Daybreak
by Iincho
Summary: The usual boredom at Black Order School campus is destroyed, when a new transfer student is pushed into the lives of Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee. Will be Yullen! Enjoy!
1. A not so boring day

Hello… this little story came up during some course I took a while ago. It was either write a story (which I wanted to do since ages anyway) or annoy the hell out of the other ones at the course. It's a high school story though I hope I can make it different from many others. I just need something nice as a change, cause the situation in the manga is hard to bear at the moment.

Anyway: DISCLAIMERS: I don't own D. Gray-man But… noooooo, I claim Allen!!! *cuddles Allen and runs away from license holders*

Warning: Boys love! (Yaoi or whatever) and Yullen-pairing! Rating will go up in later chapters!

Edit: Sorry for the format before.... I didn't realise I had pressed the wrong button

* * *

Boring. That was the only word cruising through the red head's brain as he sat in his class and glanced around the room. Half of his classmates seemed to be asleep, he couldn't blame them for it. A few girls in the back whispered furiously and giggled – no doubt the topic was his best friend, Yuu Kanda. Said boy was currently sitting at the window to his right and switched between glaring at their history teacher and his math homework, which he was doing at the moment.

Lavi glared enviously at him for a moment. He wished he would have left his homework for the boring lesson as well, but unfortunately his granddad, a certain Panda, would never allow him to not do his homework in just time. Never mind that all the teachers claimed that homework and projects were so that they would remember things easier and that he would get straight A's even if he never open a book. After all, he was a bloody genius.

Yuu was similar in that aspect: anything else than an A just didn't sit well with him. So his grades kicked ass, even if he skipped classes often and  
used the time he had to spend in the useless classes to do his homework. "Why would I waste my fucking time with this shit at home?" was the answer he got when he questioned the other's habits. Yuu would rather spend hours training with Mugen, his beloved katana.

Sighing for the twentieth time now, Lavi thought about what he could do to get a rise of the other boy. Maybe he should go get something to drink and accidentally pour it over his best friend's homework. An evil grin settled on his face as he thought about it. Indeed, a bored Lavi usually equaled a very annoyed Kanda.

He just was about to get up and act on his idea when the bell finally rang and Kanda threw a glare at him. Lavi didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved that the lesson was finally over, though the next one was probably no better anyway.

The redhead quickly followed Kanda out of classroom. "Yuu-chan, wai-" he swiftly dodged the blow that was aimed at his face.

"Don't fucking call me that! And stop following me!" The annoyed black haired boy yelled at him.

"But Yuu-chan, we do have the same class again now."

Kanda ignored him and went to the stairs that eventually led to the roof, trying to get away from all the annoying people, especially the stupid rabbit. Of course Lavi still came along and Kanda wondered briefly why he was being called a genius, when he couldn't even go to his lessons alone.

Just when they finally reached the top stairs they were stopped by a teary-eyed Komui, the vice principal, who was wearing a white coat... in the beginning of the hottest June since over twenty years. What kind of an idiot wears a coat in this heat?

'Oh for fuck's sake, what the hell is this idiot doing here now?' he rolled his eyes.

"Lavi, Kanda! Help me find Lenaleeeeee!" Komui whined and Kanda had to surpress the urge to smash the other head first against the wall.

"Why the fuck should I?" he yelled.

"Cause if you don't I'll drag you back to your chemistry class right now and maybe call Tiedoll."

Kanda cursed the man before him. "Language Kanda!" Komui glared.

"Anyway, I came to look for you because the two of you are in the student council and-" Kanda growled, remembering just why he was in the student council and kicked Lavi's shin. He smirked when he heard the redhead swear.

Komui ignored their usual (and very mature) display of affection. "And I need you to go look for not only my beloved Lenalee but also our new transfer student, whom she was supposed to show around. She was called in by Mr. Reever and after that the new student was nowhere to be found anymore. Lenalee is still searching at the moment." He sniffed. "Such a sweet girl she is!"

Kanda rewarded him with another glare.

"Wait a second, since when do we allow transferstudents? And why now? This term only lasts a few more weeks!"

"And why should I care for some stupid brat and your sister? It's your damn job to look after her and new students!"

"We made an exception because of the person who recommended him." Was Komui shivering just now? "And you should care cause Lenalee can't do it on her own! What if some perverted seniors or college students kidnap her?"

"Usagi can take care well enough of the problem. I have better things to do!"

"Nee, Yuu-chan! Let's look for them together. Means we get to spend more time with each other." Lavi snickered, dodged another blow and put an arm around his best friend.

"No fucking way!"

"I'll give you a pass for the next two lessons if you do." Komui offered, smiling at Kanda.

"Fine." the raven haired man answered. "So how does the idiot look like?"

Komui handed him a picture, which was quickly snatched away by Lavi. "Weird scar. Is this a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. His name is Allen Walker."

"Che... weakling!"

-----------------

Meanwhile a certain white haired boy walked towards the west building. The campus was huge. He had already searched the elementary school, and apparently he now seemed to be entering the university area. The whole place was so damn confusing! Why did everything have to be so damn big here–and worse–look all the same?

He also stood out quite a bit, however no one bothered to talk to him. Instead he could see them whispering to one another and staring at his scar. The yellow bird-like creature, that was following him, didn't help with distracting them either.

If at least they would help him! But when he came up to two girls, to ask for directions they just giggled in a silly way and ran.

"Where in god's name is that office Timcanpy?" the white haired boy whined. The girl that was first supposed to show him around had been called back and all he wanted to do was quickly find a toilet. In the process he got completely lost in all those buildings, never finding the place he had entered through again.

His stomach chose to make itself known that moment and grumbled rather loudly, making him even more frustrated than he had been. "Damn Cross! He could at least have brought me here today! Stupid master!" he silently fumed at the thought of his master. They had been traveling around for the last five years, since his master was a much wanted scientist and programmer. Allen had assisted him and learned a lot from him, even though his master was a horrible person, drinking lots, spending many a night with some women and making him pay for most of their expenses. Then one month ago he rented an apartment here and asked Allen to fill out some papers. It took Allen the whole month to answer all the questions given and make everything that his master required.

When he finally was done with it, Cross had glanced at the papers, and told him that this would do and that from the next day on he was to go to the school here, since he would need some degrees to continue on.

Of course Allen wanted to go to school and get a degree, but why couldn't his master for once just do things the normal way and ask or at least inform him about things in a timely manner? It also irked him that he was just thrown out the door and not given any directions or, god save, brought here by Cross.

Sometimes he really wished he could just beat his master up! Right now was one of these times.

-------------------

Lenalee was running through the buildings, asking people if they had seen a white haired boy, but until now she only got negative answers. She was really worried about the newest member of the school, even though she didn't understand how it was so impossible to just wait here, or come back to the entrance if something was off.

Finally she met two girls that were able to tell her that they had seen the white haired boy near the university grounds. How he ended at that place was beyond her. Did he meet someone he knew?

She quickly thanked the girls and wanted to go on, when she heard someone shout. "Lenalee, wait!" Lavi and Kanda were coming towards her.

"Sorry guys, I don't have time right now. I am looking for a new-"

"Che... we know that already." Kanda glared at the two girls who had the nerv to start blushing and giggling when they saw him. They quickly ran away.

"Komui sent us to help you look for him. Though he was more worried about his precious little sister than the new guy." Lavi informed her.

"He should be near the university, let's go."

"How the hell can the idiot end up there? The office building is the first one from the gate even!"

"Actually I was wondering the same. Anyway, let's go and find him, so we can get back to class."

"Che..."

As they finally arrived at the university building Allen just came walking out of it.

"Allen!" Lenalee was relieved to finally see the boy again. "What were you doing? We have been looking all over the place for you!"

"I'm sorry" the boy blushed "I needed to go to the toilet and didn't find the way back."

"Che... idiot!"

"What? You don't have to be that rude!" They glared at each other until Lenalee, who was shocked that the boy didn't cower like most others would have, stepped in. "Come on you guys, we really don't have time for this now."

Allen sighed, this clearly was not his day.

"Anyway, I am Allen Walker. Nice to meet you." He said with a polite smile.

"I'm Lavi and this is Yuu Kanda, though he hates it when people call him by his first name, I'm an exception of course." Lavi shook his hand and was hit on his head!

"Say that again, baka Usagi!" Kanda gave him one of his death glares.

"Nice to meet you too, Kanda" Allen smiled at Kanda, wanting to shake his hand.

"As if I would shake hands with a brat! Now follow idiot, else you might get lost here and die." he smirked. "Actually do that, please."

Allen's smile faltered. He had a feeling his day was just getting worse and worse.

* * *

Please READ and REVIEW! I really need some input.

Also if anyone is good in English and over 18 and would like to beta-read and poke me on: Please let me know, I would really like to have someone read before I post the story.


	2. What the?

Finally got around to type the second chapter.

Warning: It will be YULLEN! Go away if you can't handle it. Rating will most likely go up in later chapters!

Disclaimer: Still don't own D. Gray-man If I did I would make sure that Allen gets rid of the 14th soon and is happy with Kanda… *snif*

Thanks a lot mocha. usagi, for correcting mistakes in the previous chapter!

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No one said a word as they followed Kanda to the office building. Allen wondered just how he was supposed to find his way around here. Not only did the buildings look very similar, but also the whole campus looked basically the same. There was nothing that stood out even a little bit, so that he might have had a chance to remember it.

As if sensing his worries Lenalee turned to him and smiled. "Don't worry, all the new students get lost here. We will show you around for the first few days when you are in school, so that you can get used to it."

"Thanks a lot!" Allen smiled in relief.

A few minutes later Allen finally was, where he should have been a few hours ago already. He felt nervous again. Being late on the first day was not a good omen.

"Don't look like you'll be eaten any moment, Allen." Lavi laughed at him. "You're even more pale than when we found you."

"Scared?" Kanda sneered. "If you're already scared at that then I wonder how you will do in your actual first class. If you get to be in one, that is. After all, who would want people who are that late on their first day here."

Allen glared at him. "So what if I am nervous! Just stay out of my business, j-"

Lavi quickly covered Allen's mouth. "Shhh… you don't wanna curse here."

Just as Lavi had said that the door slammed open and Komui ran towards Lenalee to hug her tightly. "Lenaleeeeeeeeeeeee" he cried onto her shoulder. "Where have you been so loooong?"

"Brother… It wasn't that long." She patted her brother's back.

"And that, Allen-kun, is our beloved vice principal, Komui Lee."

"Ah…" Allen stared at the display.

"Brother, why don't you introduce yourself to Allen properly now and tell him everything he needs to know?"

"But Lenalee …" the man wailed, still holding on to his precious sister.

"Do I have to get the principal to do it for you?" Lenalee asked with an innocent smile.

Komui's expression turned to one of horror. "NO! I will do it, I will do it."

He sniffed once more before he finally let go of her and gestured for them all to follow him into his office.

His office was… unlike anything Allen had expected. It had big windows and was nicely bright. The furniture was of a warm and light brown. There was a comfortable looking couch and three chairs around a table. Opposite of it was a big desk with computer and everything needed in an office. On the wall besides the computer was a nice looking picture (as far as Allen was concerned) and besides the door were some cabinets and bookshelves.

What made this office unlike anything however was the sheer amount of paper and letters, that was lying around on the ground. Allen's smile became strained as he took a good look around. The chaos here reminded him a bit of Cross, even if the cause for it was something completely different. He wondered how someone like this could become vice principal, and if the school was even half as good as Cross had said. Then again, what school that was supposed to be that great would accept someone who never even went to any school before.

Komui gestured for them to sit down around the table while Lenalee went to prepare coffee for them.

"Well, sorry for the late introduction. I am Komui Lee, the vice principal as Lavi already told you. Lenalee is my sister and part of the student council for High School. As are Lavi and Kanda."

Allen nodded. "I am Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you, sir."

Komui took out a folder which had Allen's work inside. "Now then. Let's start with the official business. As you know your father-"

"He's not my father. He is my legal guardian!" Allen interjected fiercely, then blushed and apologized.

"Ah… so your guardian came here about a month ago to enroll you to our school." Komui smiled.

"Normally you wouldn't have been accepted, but since it was Cross Marian that recommended you we decided to make an exception. You did all the home assignments our school gave you, but you still have to take exams here, since some teachers voiced their concern about you being accepted. You have been home schooled and the home assignment could have been done by your fa- I mean guardian."

Allen's expression darkened considerably. "Help? My master would not even help me if I was close to dying. He's the type of person that gets an assignment, spends two weeks in bars or with…"

Allen blushed again before his irritation at his master got the better out of him. "Anyway, then he comes one week before it should be finished and I have to pull all-nighters just to finish it in time. And he takes the credits and the money for it."

Lavi patted his back. "Well… I suppose he didn't help you much. But at least now you get to go to this lovely school with Yuu and me-" Kanda again hit his shin.

"I swear say that one more time, damn rabbit, and I will break your bones!"

"Damn! Stop hitting me!"

"I will when you learn to stop calling me by that name!"

"And I will learn it once you learn how to smile!"

"Stop this bickering! Think of what impression this is going to leave on our new student! We're a prestigious school!"

"I think that impression was already destroyed by your office though." Lavi grinned.

Lenalee came back into the office with the coffee for them. She glanced around and sighed. "Do tell me you wasted all this time to argue instead of giving Allen a proper introduction!"

She glared at the three men.

"I did inform him… before he kinda got depressed about his guardian."

"I should have asked the principal to come and take care of Allen after all. I'm sorry for that, Allen."

The white haired boy smiled at her. "Don't worry. At least my first day here is… interesting."

She handed him coffee and cake. "Well brother, inform him of everything and then let's go eat something real."

"Alright. Let's get back to the matter at hand then. So some teachers were against accepting you just like this and as such it was decided to make you take exams. Since you never got any official grades we want to see what your level is in each subject."

He pointed to some papers. "The teachers here have prepared some exams for you that cover several grades each. You should do well if you did all the previous assignments on your own."

Once again he was distracted. This time by Timcanpy who had chosen that moment to leave his spot on Allen's head and ate Kanda's cake.

"What the hell?" Kanda looked shocked at the yellow ball before his look turned into a glare and he made a move to grab it.

"Ah… Sorry, I forgot to give Timcanpy some of mine."

"Timcanpy? That's what you call the bird? How come it follows you arround?" Lavi wanted to take the bird-like creature away from the cake but Allen quickly took it before he could reach it.

"Don't try to do that. Tim bites when you disturb him while he's eating."

Lavi couldn't help but laugh at that. "It bites? Must be some kitty nip then!"

Timcanpy grinned, revealing some lovely razor sharp teeth. The laughter of the red head died somewhat at seeing the teeth of the creature.

An excited look passed over Komui's face. "Is that the golem that Cross was developing five years ago?"

"Yes. He named it Timcanpy and gave it to me to keep an eye on it. It somehow has it's own will and it also likes to eat quiet a lot. That's why it ate the cake. I'm sorry Kanda, I will buy you a new one when we're finished here."

"I don't like sweets." Kanda still glared at the creature however. He wouldn't have eaten the cake, but it was his none the less. And Kanda hated it when someone touched anything that belonged to him.

"Can I touch it?"

Allen was sure that by now Timcanpy had finished eating and handed him to Lenalee.

"It's cute." She smiled and patted the little creature.

"So I will have to take some exams." Allen got back to the reason why he was here. "When will I take them?"

"Good to see you are calm about that. The exams will start this afternoon."

"WHAT?" Allen really hadn't expected this answer. He felt nervous again. How was he supposed to know what to expect. He never had been in a school and never had had to take any exams at all.

'_Master__…__ why did you not warn me?__'_

"I know it is a bit sudden, but we only have so much time left before the end of the term, so we will start right after midday break. The exams will take some days. We will start at 8 a.m. and stop at 5 p.m. You should be able to cover all the subjects within that time. Also… some parts are written exams while the others require for you to make something. Of course we will supply you with everything that is needed."

"I understand." Allen felt worse and worse. Not just one exam, but several in many subjects.

"Good. You will do your exams in this room. So come back after lunch please. Lenalee won't be around then." He sniffed at the thought of not seeing his beloved sister this afternoon.

"Lavi and Kanda can show you around instead of me. I am sure they won't mind being a bit late to their classes."

"Of course we don't."

"You take care of it then, rabbit. I don't feel like babysitting."

"I am NOT a baby!"

"True… babies are supposed to be sweet. Right, _moyashi_?"

"Stop the name calling, jerk!"

"That's enough, Kanda!"

"Che…"

"You will do your duty as a member of the student council and help Allen getting comfortable at our school. If not then Tiedoll WILL hear of this."

Kanda glared daggers at Komui. "Let the rabbit take care of it. After all, it's his fault I am in the damn student council to begin with!"

With that he went out of the room, slamming the door shut.

"Sorry Allen. Kanda… takes time to get used to. Once you get to know him and to overlook his death threats he isn't that bad however." Lavi smiled at him.

"I don't mind him not showing me around. I think I'm better of lost and alone than with him as company." Allen said. "Can we go eat something now? I am starting to get really hungry."

Timcanpy seemed to nod in agreement.

* * *

The exams filled his next few days just nicely. At first he had been rather scared. But Komui's friendly encouragement at the beginning took away his nervousness. He started with the subjects he knew he should be good at. Math was the first area he covered.

Seeing how he had no problems with the questions there gave him enough confidence to start even with the ones he felt the most uncomfortable with.

Every morning either Lenalee or Lavi were picking him up. Lunch period he had to spend in the office, so that no one could say he cheated. In the evening either of the two picked him up again. Allen was happy that the two waited every day for him, even though it wouldn't have been necessary anymore. The office building was the first and he just had to follow the straight road from the entrance.

The first two days he had decided to do the written exams, while afterwards he chose the practical tasks. He liked the practical tasks more, after all they were more useful too. He especially liked the task where he had had to bake a cake, that he and Komui were allowed to eat after a teacher had seen and graded it.

All in all the exam days were passing rather fast and he felt that he could get used to this place, if he was accepted for real.

Finally it was Thursday evening, and he had just finished his last task.

"Happy that it's finally over?" Komui asked with a smile.

"Yeah. It was rather unsettling having to do so many things on short notice." A soft smile played on his lips.

"Though it was actually not that bad. I've had a lot of worse things to do thanks to my master."

"I'm sure he was thinking of you when he came here to enroll you in this school."

Allen didn't look convinced. His master was not a person that did things for the sake of others.

"Here, eat a cake. I'm sorry but you will have to wait for around one more hour here. If you want you can read a book or do something else."

"Ah… sure." Allen took out his book that he also had been reading during his lunch break.

Half an hour later Komui came back with a big envelope in his hand.

"Tomorrow we will talk about the results of your exams and what to do with you in the future. Also you will finally meet the principal of this campus."

"Why? What will you do with me? How were my results?"

Komui's smile widened "Just wait till tomorrow. The teachers will have a meeting tonight still. Your results so far are most curious. Anyway, Kanda will bring you to your house and deliver a message to your guardian."

"What? Why can't I do that on my own? I don't want to go with Kanda!"

"Because the message concerns you and you are not part of the student council. Kanda on the other hand is, as such he will do it."

"Why can't Lavi take care of it?"

"Because Lavi is busy in the library at the moment."

"But-"

"Just accept the free ride. Kanda doesn't often give them."

"I can imagine." Allen said, feeling that he would have been better of walking for days than spending even one minute in the same car as Kanda.

Komui ushered him out of the office. Kanda was already outside leaning against the wall. He scowled at Allen when he saw him.

"You're slow, moyashi!"

"What? Why is it my fault now!"

"The whole thing is your fault. If you weren't here then I wouldn't have had to wait!"

Allen glared back at him. "Well sorry to ruin your otherwise perfect day!"

"If you two continue like this, I will make you work together daily in the future. Two happy students, working hard to keep our school clean until the end of the semester. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?" Komui smiled at Kanda who gritted his teeth.

He handed Kanda the envelope. "Make sure to deliver it and tell Cross to make sure to call me right away."

"Why does my master need to call you?"

"Because we need his opinion. Goodnight then. I will see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight." Allen almost pouted.

Kanda turned around without another word and hurried to the stairs. "Hurry up, moyashi. I don't like wasting my time."

"It's Allen! Even a child can remember two syllables!"

"Stop wasting my time!" Kanda looked even more annoyed than before.

Kanda quickly walked towards his car and gestured for Allen to get into it. "So where do you live?"

Allen described the way. Luckily it wasn't that far, especially with a car. It took them less than 10 minutes to get there.

Kanda parked in front of the gate to their house. "And here I thought you would live in some tiny flat in some poor quarters at the border of the town."

"Well and once again you are wrong."

"Che… I'm not wrong. You are still poor."

"But I do live in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood."

"Which doesn't belong to you."

"So what?" Allen rolled his eyes.

He opened the door and invited Kanda in.

"Master. Someone from school wants to talk with you!" He called while slipping out of his shoes.

"If you keep calling him master at school people are definitely gonna make fun of you." Kanda informed him.

"What? … Why?"

"No one talks like that anymore, idiot!"

"I don't see what's wrong with it!"

"Are you really that stupid?" Kanda watched him. "Forget that, I know the answer already!"

"It's a perfectly normal word you can find in any dictionary. So what's the problem with it?"

"Well then it's time someone informed you that we're not living in the middle age anymore. Keep on using the word _master_ and most likely all will think that you are either a slave or have a sexual relationship with him."

"Wha-"

"Do whatever you wish. Go ahead and let people make fun of you!" Kanda rolled his eyes at the dumbfound expression on Allen's face.

Cross chose that moment to finally appear. "You called, idiot apprentice?"

"Yes. This is Kanda, he's been sent here from school to talk with you."

"What do the idiots need now?"

"How would I know? I wasn't told anything."

"Are you one of the teachers? I didn't know they let children teach now."

"Che… as if I would spend time with annoying brats!" Kanda glared at the red haired man who had called him a child. "I was sent here by Komui to give you this." He threw the envelope at Cross. "You should call the vice principal. It's urgent apparently."

"Those idiots should have all the information they need already." Cross wasn't happy but he would call the damn school once more. "Come in if you want. My idiot apprentice will give you something to drink."

"I'll be on my way. No need to waste more of my evening."

Cross laughed at him. "You should loosen up kid!"

Kanda clenched his fists. "Call your apprentice whatever you wish, but stop doing that with me. It's Kanda!"

"You're still a kid to me!" Cross grinned. "Allen, go get something to drink!"

"I guess I'll see you in school Kanda. Thanks for the ride, bye!" Allen smiled happily at the thought of Kanda leaving. One problem less in the house!

"Che… bye, moyashi!"

Cross roared with laughter as he heard the new nickname for his apprentice. "Shut it!" came the angry shout of the white haired boy before he went into the living room to look for some bottle of sake. When he came back with a glass and the bottle Kanda was already gone.

"So that guy with the long hair is your friend?"

"No!"

"Pity, his naming sense is great!" Cross laughed again!

"Damn you!" Allen grabbed his things and went to his room, slamming the door close. He still could hear Cross laughing downstairs and clenched his fists in anger. One day he would get the man back for all of the shit!

* * *

A few minutes later Cross picked up the envelope. A grin speared across his face. The boy had done better than he had expected. Then again, Allen did have talent. He resumed his laughing as he saw the results the boy had gotten in biology, geography and art. His charge was hilarious.

After he put down his empty glass he called the number Komui had written down for him.

* * *

The next morning Allen found himself in Komui's office again. At first he thought he was in the wrong room, since everything was cleaned and not a single paper was lying around. Just as he was about to leave again he saw the vice principal as well as three more people. A man with blond hair, a girl that looked grumpy as well as another man with long blond hair were sitting around the table. Allen didn't recognize either of them.

"Good morning Allen. Let me introduce you. This is the principal Bak Chan. Besides him is his secretary, Fou, and the head of the university part of the Black Order, Howard Link."

He smiled "Good morning. I'm Allen Walker."

"Just sit down Allen!" Bak smiled at him.

After Komui handed a folder to Link the man got up. "I'm sure we will meet later on again. Goodbye for now. I will come to your office later, principal."

He quickly left the room, before anyone could reply.

"Don't worry about him, Allen. There was a little accident at the university building today."

The results of his exams were lying on the table in front of them. "We were just discussing the results of your exams." Bak explained while Fou offered him a glass of water.

"Ok…"

"You see, your results were a bit… weird." At the look of Allen's face Bak quickly added "But don't worry, you've definitely been accepted. The only problem is what grade to put you in."

"Sir… shouldn't I be a sophomore?"

"To be honest that's what we thought. But you would only do well on that level in English, Literature, History and Sports."

"I failed all the rest?"

"Ah no-"

"Kid, in Biology, Geography and Art we don't even need to talk about failing." Fou interrupted Bak. "Your knowledge in those subjects rivals the knowledge a nine year old boy might have!"

In hindsight Allen should have known that his usual luck would kick in. Naturally it was during that sentence that Lavi and Kanda barged into the room.

Lavi blinked a couple of times before he started to shake. His face turned a healthy shade of red before he burst out in loud laughter.

Worse than Lavi was Kanda however. Kanda didn't laugh out loud like Lavi did but his shoulders were twitching ever so slightly and he had turned around for a moment before he turned to stare at Allen again with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

Allen felt mortified. He wished that someone would just pull him under the earth. Why the hell did they have to appear just now?

Bak looked shocked at the two intruders. "Learn to knock first! We're dealing with personal matters at the moment!" he yelled at them.

"N… nine year old…" Lavi still couldn't stop laughing.

Allen really felt like punching him on his nose. He splashed the rest of his water on the red head.

"Allen!"

"Sorry, he was so red in his face that I thought he needed to cool down!" He smiled sweetly at Lavi.

"Don't worry nine y-"

"That's enough Lavi!" Bak interrupted and glared at Lavi, before turning to Allen.

"And Allen, your behavior was also uncalled for!"

"It's also uncalled for to tell others about my grades in exams!"

Bak rubbed his forehead before he stared at them again. "You're not to tell this anyone else! What you two heard here today will stay in this room. Understood?"

Lavi knew the principal was being serious. "Yes sir." He started laughing again however when he saw the enraged look on Allen's face. It reminded him of an angry cat.

"Understood, Kanda?"

"Che… as if I would spend time gossiping." Kanda said, his grin was still in place however.

'_I wish I could just punch him!__'_ Allen thought before he decided to get on with the previous conversation.

"So great. I will be accepted into the school, but I am not good enough to go to the classes where people my age go to. Are you sure this school is as good as I was told? Wouldn't it make your school look bad to accept someone like me then? If it's about my mas- … about Cross then you don't need to worry. I'll just continue with my life like it was until now."

"Don't you wanna go to school, kid? Stop being stupid!"

"Fou…" Bak sighed. He could feel a headache coming. "No, we wouldn't accept you to our school if you couldn't hold your own weight. We expect much of our students and also try to provide them with the best."

Bak showed him the results of his exams. "Look, you answered sophomore questions and did all the tasks for English, Literature and History. Sports is definitely no problem for you either."

Allen looked over the grades. The questions were now marked. He supposed that the markings stood for the different grades.

"Sure you did… not to great in Biology, Geography and Art but it shouldn't be too much of a problem for you to catch up."

"If you say so…"

"Now the other subjects again are on the other side of the scale."

Lavi glanced over the papers with interest. "Wow! You did really well in math!"

"Get out, Lavi!" Fou pushed the boy out.

"But we came here cause Komui called us!"

"If you can't keep quiet I will kick your ass, boy!" Fou sneered at him, after Komui had nodded to show, that they really had been called here. Both Kanda and Lavi sat down on the couch.

"Anyway, as Lavi pointed out your results in math, as well as chemistry, physics, computer science and music are really university level already. So If we would put you into the sophomore year like the other students that are your age, you would be bored to hell for the most part. Unless of course you decide to take some new courses. Your cooking is quiet good too I heard. You might do well there too." Bak smiled at him.

"We all knew you were involved in some major science projects over the last few years, but we never expected these results."

"What do you mean? What projects, Komui?"

"Damn brat! Be quiet!"

Lavi decided that he would ask Allen later on about the projects. It sounded interesting enough. Even Kanda seemed to be listening.

"So I failed in some subjects, did better than expected in some others and normal in the rest. What now then?"

"The thing is that your talent would be wasted in High School really. Cross Marian phoned me yesterday evening still. We discussed it with him and the other teachers, and while some are against it the majority has the opinion that you should start university next year."

A dumbfound expression settled itself on Allen's face. "B… but I am only 15!"

"There have been kids younger than you in university, kid!" Fou interjected.

"Cross said that we should give you the challenge. He said you'd catch up in the other subjects with the rest of the sophomore students without problems. And that you indeed would be bored afterwards."

"Moyashi, be happy to be able to skip so many years of wasted time. Are you afraid you are not good enough to keep up with us?"

"We can help you study too, if you choose university!" Lavi smiled happily at him.

"But… what if I am not as good as you think I am?"

"Allen, do you have any idea what you have been doing the last few years with your guardian? I think you don't even know your own ability too well." Bak smiled at him, in what he hoped was an encouraging way.

"Would you, if all you ever got to hear is that you did everything wrong?"

"Look, Cross was sure you would be able to do it if you put your mind to it. Even if he doesn't say anything nice, doesn't that mean that he trusts you?"

"He was probably just thinking that I would need less time off of work that way."

"Well… he did say something like that. But it also was him who enrolled you here, no?" Komui put a hand on his shoulder. "You should start giving yourself more credit."

"I guess."

"Before you can go to university you need to catch up with their level anyway. Try and see if you can do that in the few weeks we have left this term!"

Shaking his head Allen got up. "I don't know if I can do all that in that short time."

"Will he have exams again at the end of the term?" Lavi asked with a frown.

"Only if he decides to try to go to university with you next year. If he wants to be a sophomore I don't think he will need to do many. Biology and Geography are things you can learn quiet fast. If he tries for university he'll need to catch up in English, Literature and History as well."

"Well decide moyashi, I'm getting hungry."

"I…" Allen gulped. "I will give it my best."

"Hmpf… we will see your final results in a month then." Fou hid her smile. She liked people who would take on a challenge. A feat that only Lavi and Kanda had accomplished so far in her eyes.

"Great! You will go to the courses that will help you until then. During your free periods Lavi, Lenalee and also Kanda will help you, since you already know them. Fou will be tutoring you in the evenings. It will be hard work, but with effort you should be able to manage it."

Allen didn't mind Lavi's and Lenalee's help. But Kanda and Fou didn't seem like the people who would help someone. He didn't know whether or not Komui was trying to be nice or to kill him.

"A last question. Why is everyone else putting so much effort into helping me?"

"One reason is Cross Marian. We do owe the man a lot. Another reason is that it would be stupid to let someone with talent slip out of our hands. And last but not least, from all the talks I have had with you Allen, I just feel like offering help."

A blush spread over Allen's face at the last comment from Komui.

He wondered if things would go well. Everything seemed to be going so fast. But at least the people here were nice so far. With one exception.

'_Mana__…__ I will keep on walking forward. I will take the challenge and try to do my best. So__…__ don__'__t worry about me. I will__ not give up.__'_

* * *

This chapter is longer than I expected. I still don't have a beta reader, so I am sorry for any mistakes that I oversaw (considering the length of the chapter I am sure there are plenty still).

Thanks to all who reviewed before. Without feedback I really have a hard time to get motivated to continue.

At the moment I am in a writing mood however, so I already am working on the next chapter.


	3. Again!

Third chapter of Daybreak is finally finished. This chapter mainly is about the weeks before the exams, so the story may seem slow to some people. I wanted to place emphasis on the fact that Allen is **not** a genius. He is **not** a wonder child, even though he does have great understanding for math and science.

For all those who are waiting for the pairing: It's slowly building up. Personally I don't like stories where they are like: We hate each other; next second: we love each other, that's why it takes a little while.

As for the projects that Allen was involved with: Yes you will get to know that one still. They are the reason why Allen is in school now, after all :)

**Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed so far! Hope you also like this chapter ^o^**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Allen hit his head against the desk in frustration. He had decided to take on the challenge and do everything he had to do, so he would be able to start with University after summer holidays. Just that it was far harder than he had expected.

He was not a genius, that was Lavi's job, as he had found out soon enough. All he had achieved until now he had achieved through hard work and the simple fact that he had had no other choice but to get over whatever was thrown at him.

It had been one week and his head felt as if it was stuffed full with information that he most of the time considered useless. He had trouble remembering things, especially if he was not interested. A fact that drove Kanda to almost strangle him. Unfortunately for Allen the older student 'helped' him with the subject he sucked the most at: Art.

Apparently Kanda's 'father' was an artist and so he had a very good knowledge on the subject as well as talent to make some really awesome paintings. Too bad for Allen that he also had almost no patience whatsoever and did not get along with him ever since the first time they had met.

The first time the older student had seen one of Allen's drawing he had grinned, teased him and made fun of it. That soon had stopped however when he realized that Allen really was _that_ bad and that, no matter how often he explained things to him, he still would get it all wrong.

"God damn idiot! Tell me again why I waste my time here instead of doing my kendo practice?" Kanda glared at him after he, yet again, had managed to destroy the aquarelle painting he had been working on.

"It's not my fault. I just have no talent for drawing. Everyone is talented at other stuff."

"Stop talking crap!"

Allen's expression darkened. "Well can you play the piano or something?"

"I'm not the one trying to get into university 3 years earlier. So stop trying to get away from drawing something decent and finish this. You're even worse in this one then you were with Oil paintings. And here I thought it couldn't possibly get worse."

Allen fumed while he took yet another paper and started all over - again. Meanwhile Kanda took out some of his own books to do his own work as well, only sometimes glancing to what would be the boys next failure.

Neither of them noticed a man standing in front of the open classroom door, whose calm demeanor turned into one of anger as he sat eyes on Allen.

* * *

Two days later Allen was studying with Lavi. This time it was English and Literature, two subjects that were more easy for Allen. And yet he couldn't take it easy because he had to catch up a lot in such a short amount of time.

Grinning from ear to ear Lavi threw yet another book at Allen that they boy should finish reading by the next day so they could discuss it. Lavi was a good teacher though, as such he combined Literature and English, so the boy would learn two subjects in one go.

When Lavi had found out he would be tutoring the newcomer he had searched for his scripts that he had kept somewhere in the attic of his house. Luckily his grandpa would not let him throw away any of his old books and scripts until he would finish his schooling completely. As such everything had been neatly stowed away. Lavi had always thought that his grandfather's antics were stupid, but now he was glad. He had lent his stuff to Allen who had been working with it for the past few days. And improved a lot.

He liked teaching the kid… as well as teasing him. Allen was easy to get along with. No wonder Kanda couldn't stand him. He looked over the teen's shoulder and pointed out a mistake to what the he had just written down.

Allen was happy to have Lavi helping him. The redhead managed to explain things in such an easy way that it wasn't a problem for him to understand the things he said. It truly was an amazing talent. Because of this he once asked if Lavi wanted to become a teacher, which had caused the older boy to laugh so hard that they had been thrown out of the library.

"Don't you have to study for your own exams?"

"Hmmm? I already did everything I needed to do. Don't worry about minor things like that."

"Minor…" Allen smiled weakly. He had to study for days on end with almost no brakes. Hearing someone say 'minor things' when it came to exams made him feel bad.

"Mah, mah… don't get all stressed. Relax and just try your best. I am sure it will work out."

"Easy for you to say, you remember things after reading them once."

"Well ok, it does help, but I am sure you can make it work too."

"If only things would be more important and interesting to me. Most of the things seem completely useless. Especially drawing."

Lavi laughed. "Well, Yuu-chan did say you suck at it. Seeing your scrawl I can imagine why."

"WHA-" Lavi slapped a hand over Allen's mouth.

"Do you want to get kicked out of the library again?" Allen shook his head.

"Then try being more silent. Especially when Tokusa is around." Allen turned around to see a guy with some weird markings around his eyes. In a way he reminded him of Link, not that he knew much about either.

"He is the history teacher, and I heard he is the one who was mostly against giving you this chance. I am sure he would be delighted to find something that he could use against you."

"Why would he do that? I never met him."

"He doesn't like people who are successful easily."

"I am not…"

Lavi just sighed. "I know that. But he doesn't… and I don't even think he wants to know. Just stay clear of him. And of Goushi, the Art teacher. Unfortunately that guy follows Tokusa around like a puppy would it's master."

Suddenly Allen felt sick. "I will never manage if the Arts teacher doesn't want me to pass. I do have to take the exam… and I suck at the subject too."

And thus the learning session was interrupted since Allen got too depressed to continue and didn't even cheer up as Lavi snuck some cakes into the library, though he did devour them in no time like usual.

Later on he even managed to piss off Fou even more than he normally did, because he was too worried about the upcoming exams to concentrate. At the end Fou kicked him out and told him to not come back before he wasn't trying hard again.

* * *

"THAT IDIOT!!!" Fou stomped into Bak's office.

"I can't believe that I have to take care of such a WHIMP!" she kicked a stack of paper down from the desk and put her feet on top.

"What's the matter, Fou?" Bak asked her with a smile. He knew exactly what was wrong with his secretary.

"He's hopeless! He'll never manage! Yesterday he was fine and trying today he gets there depressed and distracted. I'm not babysitting idiots who can't take care of themselves."

"Hmmm… so you say he won't be able to manage all the exams?"

"Of course not!"

"Well I suppose we can't help him then. If even you can't teach him enough to manage then maybe we should just ask him to go with the sophomores."

"Eh?"

"Well obviously… Cross also said he is an idiot. So he most likely doesn't stand a chance to do it."

"Wait… wait just a sec. I CAN teach him enough! … And he only needs the right encouragement."

"No no, we shouldn't take pity on someone who obviously won't manage."

" He CAN do it… if he tries hard. He already finished to catch up in History completely. English and Literature are Lavi's area, but he said Allen is mostly doing fine too. Biology… well the sexual topics were a problem for him." Fou sneered as she saw Bak's hives coming up. Payback was a bitch.

"For someone who grew up with Cross I expected him to NOT blush. Even Lenalee-"

"BAK-SAMA!" Sammo Han Won came running into the office to catch Bak, who was just about to faint, and laid him gently down on the couch.

Fou rolled her eyes. "I really wonder if you didn't install cameras in the office to always know when Bak is about to faint."

The older man, a doctor who was working in the medical ward at school, ignored her. He had long since learned to not get worked up by the woman's comments.

"Anyway Bak! You keep your hands of from Walker! I will teach that kid and he will manage those damn exams!" With that she took her keys and left the office, slamming the door behind her.

"Good thing you always know what to say to her. She will definitely make him pass."

The blonde principal got up again, though he still had a wet towel pressed to his face. "I know she will. The boy is the type who works hard. She likes those guys."

* * *

Luckily Allen had calmed again the next day (after Cross almost killed him for not finishing his studies with Fou). Allen wanted to try hard and saw to it, that he didn't get depressed anymore. He already was a burden to his tutors. At least he didn't want to let them down.

The days passed very fast. Too fast in Allen's opinion. He had just gotten used to his new daily routine when again something changed. Lenalee, at the end of his second week of nonstop studying, told him that from now on he would have to continue on his own, since he had reached the point where she couldn't help him with anything anymore. Lavi would take over Geography and Biology from here on as well.

He couldn't help but feel sad at that. Lenalee was probably his best friend here. Sure, the red head was fun, and slowly but surly he started to get used to Kanda as well as Fou, but no one else was nearly as nice and understanding as Lenalee was.

"Come on, cheer up! It's not as if we aren't going to see each other anymore!" Lenalee tried to lighten his mood, guessing right about why he looked so sad. "You're still coming here to eat, and all. Also once this is over we can actually do more fun things together than just learning."

Allen's sad expression turned to a more cheerful one at that. "Indeed. I am so happy when this is finally over. Not that I think I won't have to do lots still, but at least the pressure will be gone then. For the first time I actually might get to find out what summer holidays feel like."

An image of a beach and palms popped up in Allen's head. "I truly do want to go to the beach."

"We can go together then. I am sure my brother won't mind if I go to the beach with you. How about Cross?"

And the nice image of the ocean vanished as he thought of his red haired demon of a guardian. "NO! I am sure master will have work for me over summer holidays. And if not I will have to look for a job since he probably does nothing else but make debts. AAAAAH! And we already stayed here for so many weeks!"

"A- Allen?"

"What will I do? I won't be able to get enough money in time!"

"…"

"I knew I forgot something. He's doing nothing the whole day long, isn't he. That means work for three years for me to pay of his debts!"

Seeing the panicked boy was fun in a way, Lenalee decided.

"Mah… if you are accepted here and not 18 yet, you are not allowed to work during summer. And even after that it's heavily discouraged, unless it has something do with what you study."

"What?"

"The school wants students to learn, and if they have free they should use the time to relax or do some sports. As such students are forbidden from working during holidays or after school."

"Only rich people can afford that though."

"Well… some students get a permission that allows them to work. But it doesn't happen often. The principal wants what is best for students really. We should give our all during the year, but then also be allowed to relax during the time that is meant for it."

"I am sure master got special permission for me to work then."

Lenalee couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's not fun."

"I haven't heard anything of the sorts yet. I am sure brother would have mentioned it, if that was the case."

It was clear that Allen didn't believe this.

"You know what, give me your number and I shall call Cross after the exams and inform him that you will join me on a beach trip."

"Cross' number?" Somehow the thought of Lenalee knowing the number of Cross was very disturbing.

"No… or do you only have mobile phones?"

"Ah, no we still have the landline." Allen scribbled the number down. "Please make it a short phone call. And maybe Komui should stay near you when you talk with him. Also I am not sure if he is even at home."

"Don't worry. As I said, all I want to do is go on a trip with you."

"And Komui will kill me for it."

"Brother wouldn't do that!" Again, Allen really didn't believe her.

They continued to talk a bit longer, thinking about what they could do, once summer holidays started and Lenalee made him promise to go shopping with her, after the exams were over.

* * *

With each passing day Allen got more and more nervous of his upcoming exams. He seemed to be doing ok in most of the subjects he had learn. He had even survived the sex education Fou had made him go through, though he prayed that he wouldn't be asked any question in that area. He probably would be too embarrassed to answer.

Fou had almost forced him to spend a day in elementary school, when he didn't give her answers without stuttering and blushing.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU? Nine or fifteen? Ah wait, stupid question, go join with the other nine year olds!" the young secretary had shouted at him before she kicked him of his chair.

Luckily Bak came in at that moment or he knew he really would have had to join them.

In some way every subject was difficult, because it was so much to learn. However the thing he was afraid about the most was Arts. Theory he of course had learned perfectly meanwhile. Just that his skills still … were almost nonexistent.

Once again Allen made his way to meet with the moody older student. That thought alone already made him want to curse, something he had probably picked up from the black haired man too.

At least he probably annoyed Kanda just as much. He plastered his best smile on his face, knowing it would annoy Kanda all the more, and went to continue on with his most hated subject. He couldn't wait for the day when he wouldn't have to touch any watercolors and brushes anymore!

Allen had just been drawing for half an hour when Lavi barged into the room.

"ALLEN!" the red haired teenager yelled and startled Allen with the noise. The boy jerked up and managed to let his almost finished painting fall onto the dirty ground.

"LAVIIII!" Allen yelled at him. "I was almost finished! Couldn't you have waited another 10 minutes?"

"Indeed. I was looking forward to tell moyashi to redo it too then."

"Still getting along great I see…" Lavi picked up the canvas. "At least you didn't waste another ten minutes now. You should thank me."

Allen however wasn't listening as he was preoccupied with thinking about punching the glaring man in front of him. "Can I just punch him once?"

"Try, but you might end up with a broken bone."

"Weakling."

"ANYWAY!" Lavi yelled again to prevent the two from arguing. "The reason I came here is because I was just on my way to the toilet when I overheard Tokusa and Goushi. Tokusa seems to think you're worst at drawing with aquarelle-"

"Can't argue with that. Even though moyashi is dreadful with everything else too."

Grabbing Allen's hand to stop him from punching at Kanda, the red head continued "And he asked him to make you use aquarelle painting techniques."

"Why the hell? Ever since I came here it really seems like someone is desperately trying to get me into problems!"

"Well… your luck sure could use improvement. You better be prepared for whatever Tokusa throws at you in history, though I think you should manage that. Which is probably also the reason why he asked Goushi."

"Hmm… brat, you definitely have a lot of work to do. I assumed he would make you draw something with oil, since that is considered more difficult. That's the reason why today you did an acrylic painting."

"So you were concerned with moyashi-chan's well being!"

"Shut up!" Kanda glared at Lavi, ready to throw the, in his opinion, abused canvas over his head.

"This will be difficult for you." he continued after Lavi backed away from him. "You're worst of with techniques where you have to use a lot of water. And aquarelle would be considered a very fair topic, so Bak couldn't help you, even if he wanted too."

Allen took a few deep breathes. "At least now I know what will be asked of me though."

"If Tokusa knew about your most hated technique, he probably also will ask you to draw some building, which would be the perfect combination for you, wouldn't it."

Even if he didn't want to, he had to agree with Kanda on that one.

"Don't worry, you still have some days to learn it."

"He wouldn't manage even with three years of time." Kanda smirked at the pale boy and closed his homework.

"If you were a better teacher then maybe I could!"

"Don't try blaming me for your own inability!"

"Well you never really did show me how to finish a drawing!"

"Cause you have to draw it on your own in the end. And I did show you how to do that."

"Help me make one drawing. Just like you assume it will be asked on the actual exam. Please." At first Kanda wanted to brush the teen off, but somehow he found himself agreeing.

"Thanks!"

"But for that you finish my math homework and bring it to me first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

Two hours later finally Allen held a finished drawing in his hand that even Kanda accepted (only because he had guided Allen nonstop to make it good).

Either way Allen was happy with the end result. He could only hope that neither Lavi nor Kanda had been wrong and that the teacher indeed would ask him to draw an Abbey or Palace. Any other topic and he would definitely fail. And even if the teacher indeed chose this he would need a lot of luck to manage still.

Kanda had told him that this was all he could help him with. As such the only two people that would continue to study with him were Lavi and Fou.

He made his way to the office once again, where Fou was already waiting.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?" she screamed as he entered and threw her cup at him.

"S-Sorry?" Allen had managed to quickly jump out of the way of the flying object.

"YOU ARE OVER AN HOUR LATE, DAMN BRAT!"

Eyes widening he started to ramble an apology and bowed several times to the woman. "I- I am very sorry! I was finishing my drawing with Kanda! It won't happen again. I'm really sorry!"

"WHY-" Fou stopped herself. "With Kanda?"

"Yes? …"

"Till now?"

Allen nodded.

"But Kanda has Kendo lessons today!"

"Maybe he didn't feel like going?"

"Kanda NEVER missed his Kendo practice. Hell he would rather not have holidays than missing his Kendo lessons!"

"Uhm…" Allen fidgeted under Fou's gaze.

"HAHAHAHA!" Her loud laughing could be heard even from outside. "I am sure curious how you are going to repay that debt."

"Thanks for always saying such comforting and encouraging words." Allen deadpanned.

"You're welcome kid. It makes my day to be able to help like that." She smirked.

"Still, for now we have to see to it that you in fact do pass. Seeing as you have to pass every single subject we better get back to work. I hope you indeed pass Arts since you were already late for your lessons with me thanks to that useless subject."

"It's not as if I like learning for it…" the boy grumbled but took out his books so they could start again.

* * *

At long last the dreaded exam-day came.

Allen was not allowed to take _anything_ into his 'special' exam room. Everything would be provided, from pens to papers who apparently would be counted and stamped, as was the exam rule for the school.

Neither his mobile phone nor Timcanpy were allowed in the exam room, which at first had scared Allen, but thanks to Timcanpy's brilliant behavior (the golem had eaten Bak's cap as well as most of the principal's stuff inside his drawers when they were informed of that fact) that might yet turn out to become a lucky thing for him. Of course only if whatever deity there was, wanted him to pass.

In the morning he had to do his written exams, in the afternoon oral examinations were to follow. The oral exams would be slightly longer, so that Allen could think about the questions given and write down what he would like to tell them. The only exception to that would be Art, where he had to finish some painting. That would be his last exam. Allen would have preferred to have his most hated subjects at the beginning this time, but of course lady luck had turned a deaf ear to his prayers. He truly hoped that she would at least be with him later on then.

The actual exams were far more relaxed than he had expected. The questions for the most part seemed fair and for most of the written exams he was alone in the room (they had searched him for any notes he might have taken along).

The only person who was constantly staring at him (and making him nervous as hell) had been Tokusa. The guy was there for the whole time when it was his subject's turn. Allen supposed that it was indeed his intention to make him fail. And some of the guy's strategy worked too - it was the only exam he couldn't finish completely. The oral examination in the afternoon was a lot worse though. Luckily Fou was sitting through all the oral examinations, as such Tokusa had to stay fair. Allen doubted he would have been able to pass otherwise.

Soon the last exam approached. Drawing. Goushi handed him paper and colors. And - Allen almost jumped with joy - the topic really was exactly what Kanda had told him. He started but after he had drawn a few lines the teacher was already laughing.

Allen sighed and threw the picture away and started over. After this happened for the third time the teacher left the room, saying that he wouldn't take the blame for Allen failing.

Allen now indeed did jump with joy! He couldn't believe his luck! He thanked every deity there might be for the teachers leaving and opened the window.

Fourty minutes later Goushi came back, together with Fou, to see Allen finishing his drawing. It was still wet but the drawing looked very well.

"Oh god! You managed!" Fou exclaimed taking a good look at the picture. "I suppose Kanda is just as good as helping hopeless people as I am!"

Goushi seemed to be very angry though. "There is no way in hell you could have done that on your own!"

Allen glared at the teacher. "Sir, the only other person who had been in this room is you. I am sure someone would have noticed if anyone entered."

The teacher examined the picture and saw the school's stamp on the paper. "Well then, explain how you made this painting." Goushi said and Allen smirked. He WAS good in theory.

A quarter of an hour later he was ushered into the principal's office, where he was told the results of his exams. He had passed all, though History only by a few points. The only subject where he got an A was English, but he really didn't care. He had managed to pass in every single subject and that was the only thing that counted.

Bak handed him a pamphlet with information about the University of Black Order. "Read everything carefully and decide by the end of the week, what you want to be doing in the future."

Allen nodded and gratefully accepted the folder. "Congratulations, Allen Walker, with this you are finally a full member of the Black Order." Fou pinched his cheeks.

"Ouch!"

"And seeing as there are no courses for the rest of the week, you will be helping the student council preparing for the end of the school festival."

"There is a school festival?"

"Yep. The last two weeks before summer are the same every year: the first one is the exam week, yours are already over though, and the following week the students prepare things for the festival while the teachers grade the papers." The secretary explained while looking through a pile of papers to find the information on this years festival.

"I can't say I have seen much of schools... But that is just such a cliché!"

"It is... But you don't have to participate much I guess. Just help getting everything ready since you are a member of the High School now. You are one of the few people who actually have time."

"Ok. At least this gives me a reason to get away from Cross."

* * *

A little while later Allen was finally free to go home. Exhaustion made itself known just as he was about to leave the building and he almost fell, when a soft shoulder steadied him.

"Well done, Allen!"

"Lenalee?"

"Are you too tired?" The girl asked while she helped him along the way.

"I didn't sleep much the last few weeks. There was so much to do." Allen sighed.

"Again, well done! My brother already told me you managed." She patted his back.

"Thanks for your support!"

"You'll have to help me learn for math till Friday!"

"I will." he replied. "But I hope you already did learn, else you will be in trouble."

They entered the High School Building and sat down at a table besides the coffee dispenser.

"We'll wait for Lavi and Kanda. They're still busy with whatever the seniors decided to do for the festival."

"I would like to go and get some decent sleep, to be honest." Allen murmured almost falling asleep on the spot.

"Lavi or Kanda will take you home. You should at least tell them yourself that you passed!" The only answer she got was some half-nod from the boy.

Since the white haired boy was not talking with her Lenalee took out some of her books to study a little bit more. She was pretty sure about what would be asked of them during the exams, but going over it again never was a bad thing.

It was already dark outside when Lavi and Kanda finally joined the two at the table.

"Oho... Looks like someone is exhausted." Lavi at once rummaged in his bag and took out a waterproof marker.

"Finally you found another victim to annoy."

"What Yuu-chan, are you jealous? Of course I will give you all my attention in a second!" Lavi said with a happy grin and had just started to draw a circle when Lenalee stopped him.

"Just let him rest for now."

"Did he manage everything?"

"Yes... I did." Allen yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Did get through everything. You were right about Goushi, Kanda... Thanks."

"I still didn't expect you to manage."

Allen put the picture on the table.

"What the fuck? It's almost the same as the one I finished with you... Just a few areas where you messed by using too much water!"

Lavi took the picture away from Kanda and grinned. "I think you played dirty there!" The school stamp in the right corner however didn't seem faked. "Or not? You really improved that much?"

"Did not." Allen stifled another yawn. "It is the same. I was really lucky. Timcanpy brought it through the window when Goushi had left the room. He also took one of my bad attempts out. And even I can add a bit of water to make it seem like just finished."

"And what about the stamp?" Lavi really didn't think it was a fake.

Allen hesitated. "The principal told us that Tim wouldn't be allowed into the exam room. Timcanpy faked to be 'angry' and as such the I 'lent' the stamp for five minutes."

"You really did cheat! Oh my god! And here I expected you to be a good little boy!" The redhead couldn't help but laughing.

"It was either that or failing. I hate failing, especially if it's cause of something that seems pointless to me."

"Heh, I already expected something like that. I don't support cheating, but given the situation I guess it was the right thing to do." Lenalee told him, to show she was ok with it.

"You owe me, moyashi!" Kanda sneered. Even though it irked him, that the younger boy had used _his_ drawing, Kanda couldn't help but feel some grudging respect for him. The boy had given his best and when he had realized that there was no way he could manage, he had looked for a way around the problem. The brat, though annoying as hell, was definitely also just as interesting.

"It's Allen!" the white haired boy snapped before taking a good look at Kanda's face. "... There is something disturbing about having to be in your debt." He probably would be reminded of this for the rest of his life.

"You're lucky we don't have any homework or projects anymore, moyashi!"

"Which only means you'll remember this until you find something even more annoying." Allen took the painting back. "I'll stay in your debt for now then, jerk!"

The group made their way out of the building, while the talk turned from the exams, that the others still had to do this week, towards what would be done at the school festival. Allen couldn't believe his ears, when they Lavi told him that the seniors wanted to do some romance-school play. "Why not just watch High School Musical? It's all there! Singing, dancing and almost no plot!"

"All the girls wanted it and hoped Kanda would take the role of the 'prince'!" Was the nice explanation he got from Lavi.

Kanda's fists clenched while Allen had a hard time to repress his laughter. Lenalee's giggling didn't anything to improve his polite trying.

"Why don't you tell them about your bloody role then, usagi!"

"What will you be doing, Lavi?" Lenalee asked in between her giggles.

"I got to play the principal of the school, which would be all fun and everything, but I only get to say two words." he whined. "I wanted a real role, to show everyone some of my talent!"

Allen clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from becoming even louder. "I am so going to watch you guys!"

"Kanda refused to be acting though" Lavi pouted. "He'll just do his duty backstage."

"Too bad, I would have loved your _happy smile_ and _graceful bow_ at the end Kanda!" Allen smirked at the older student.

"One more word, moyashi, and I will cut your hair off." Kanda glared at him.

"Wouldn-"

"Guys, you can continue your arguing on the way home. I'll drive with Lavi and Kanda, you get Allen home." Lenalee quickly dragged the redhead away, before Kanda could start arguing with her instead.

As the other made no motion to get moving Kanda sighed and pulled him along. "Let's go."

Kanda had decided that the boy was interesting, as such he wasn't too much against taking him home. Maybe he could ask him about what he had done before he came to school on the way.

However the boy fell asleep right after sitting down in the car.

"Damn child." Kanda growled as he started the engine.

* * *

That's all for now. Maybe the first part is a little low, but I like seeing things developing slowly.

I'm trying to stay in character. As such anyone who read my profile and saw that I don't like Lenalee too much will get disappointed. Lenalee and Allen will always be friends, that's just how the two are.

As for my 'abuse' of Goushi (or Koushi - I found two different spellings of the names) and Tokusa: I don't like em. Not one bit.

Just like I hate all the others who want to hurt Allen. As such I also hate the 14th. And next chapter will probably be a past-chapter too ;.; I love Kanda and all, and I wanna know his past: AFTER I know the rest of the story and both of them are save and sound and Marian is back *cries*

The chapter probably sounds a bit depressing at the beginning cause I had just read the newest D. Gray-man chapter. I am such an idiot. I truly should only read stories that are well finished. Instead I am addicted to Hagaren and D. Gray-man and each chapter just gets worse and worse....

**Please review! :)**


	4. Welcome back

Ughs… finally a new chapter. It took me a while to start/finish writing this one. I wanted to do it before Christmas break but was too busy.

During Christmas break I was too busy shopping in Tokyo. And fell in love right away again with the town. Now my goal is to get enough money to go back as soon as possible. I so miss my beloved money-trap with the name of ANIMATE!!! It was so lovely spending months worth of saving in those shops (Animate, Gamers, K-Books, Mandarake, and all the great second hand shops in Akiba!!! Damn, I wanna go there right now!!!)

This chapter shows a few 'relaxed' weeks for my most beloved Moyashi. And a few hints of what is to come besides the relationship that is still in progress.

Unfortunately this is still not beta-read. Seihi L (who offered to beta read) is on holidays (somehow I am envious :P ) Anyway, since I didn't want to make you wait any longer I post this chapter without any beta-reading and also without a second opinion - the second opinion matters more to me btw! .

**Anyway, thanks to all the lovely people who took the time to review my story! *bows* Hope you will enjoy the newest chapter!**

**Have fun reading! ^o^**

* * *

The next two weeks were some of the best weeks Allen could remember. His exams were finally done, so the stress was gone, he saw people his own age every day and he could for once in his live decide what he wanted to do every day. At least almost.

The first day after his exams Allen woke up in his bed like every morning… just that he had no idea how he got there or why he still was wearing his shirt. He was alone in his room which meant that Timcanpy was probably with his master.

He stretched lazily and checked his watch. 10:30... He blinked again, his brain starting up slowly.

"10:30..." he whispered and stared some more minutes at his watch.

xox

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A sudden scream went through the house and Cross wondered if it was worth the trouble to get up and hit his apprentice with his hammer. Maybe he should just stay here the kid would bolt downstairs soon, though that meant waiting. He didn't like difficult decisions like this in the morning as such he just continued to drink his coffee and eat his croissant.

A few minutes later Allen finally came running down the stairs and quickly began searching for food in the kitchen.

"Idiot, what's with the racket?" Cross asked while he took a new addiction-stick… never mind that he hadn't finished eating yet.

"Eh… why are you here?" Allen hadn't noticed his guardian before, having focused on finding food so he wouldn't starve. He took a moment to stare at the cigarette and wondered when his guardian would catch lung cancer or something similar. He didn't give him long anymore… maybe three years.

"Stop staring and answer." Cross said while taking a sip of his coffee.

It dawned on Allen that he did not have time to spare! He was already late, he promised Lenalee to meet her at 10 sharp in school. They wanted to learn math and he was supposed to help out with the festival too.

"I'm late for school. Why didn't you wake me up when you were at home and awake already?" He glared at the man before him while stuffing some sweets into his bag still.

"I didn't know my apprentice is a tiny child needing someone to wake him up in the morning." Cross smirked. "Though I guess it really is your first day of school. Should I have bought a cornet and filled it with sweets too?"

"GAH!!! Everyone can oversleep once! I must have forgotten to put on my alarm clock."

"Considering the way you came back from school yesterday… definitely."

"Why? Did I do something strange?"

"Not really. You slept and your cursing not-friend carried you in. Do you normally give out our address to people that are not your friends by the way? Maybe you give it even to strangers."

Allen couldn't help but hit his forehead. "I do no such things! Kanda was sent by Komui and gave me a lift. Much more annoying though is that I must have fallen asleep in his car yesterday then. I was so tired."

"I wouldn't have guessed." Allen just loved his guardian's sarcasm in the morning. "You didn't even tell me your results yet. And all the grumpy boy said was 'moyashi passed.'"

"It's Allen! That damn idiot!"

Cross smirked. "So you finally learned what the name means then?"

"… I'm sure you know the meaning. What language is it by the way?"

"Japanese."

Allen decided not to ask for a translation. The smirk on his master's face was enough of an indication to know the man was waiting for another opening to annoy him.

"So did you get good grades in the exams?" Cross asked when his apprentice didn't say anything anymore.

"I did well enough aside from History and Art. The most important thing is that I passed, I'm ok with anything else."

"I'll let you decide what you want to do next year. But whatever it is I expect you to do well."

"Don't worry. I won't take a subject that I hate and have no talent for." Allen smiled at him. He remembered that he wanted to give Timcanpy a treat still. "By the way, where is Timcanpy? I don't see him anywhere."

"He should be with you." Cross glanced around the room. True enough, the yellow golem was nowhere to be seen.

"But… he was till I fell asleep yesterday. He was in school yesterday afternoon too."

Cross shrugged. "I'm sure nothing serious has happened. Maybe he got eaten by a cat again. If you don't find him by tonight I'll use a company golem to find him."

"I'll look for him in school too." Allen said… and suddenly remembered that he wasted another twenty minutes to talk with his guardian instead of meeting up with Lenalee.

"OH NO! I have to hurry! I am so late!"

And of course the red haired man had nothing better to do than laugh at his expense.

Marian smirked, he liked messing with Allen when the boy had just woken up. He was so slow then. "Why are you in such a hurry by the way? Your exams are finished and there are no lessons anymore."

Allen shook his head vehemently. No way in hell would he allow the man to think he had time to spare. "I promised Lenalee to meet up with her and I also have to help with preparing the school festival for the next two weeks since I don't have exams anymore."

"Come to think of it, why did you already take the exams? Bak told me you could take next Monday after the official exams had finished."

"WHAT?"

Cross blew smoke in his face and shrugged. "That's what he said when he phoned."

"But… but…"

"Are one word sentences all you can say now?"

How the hell could the man always be so frustratingly annoying? A heated glare was thrown at Cross who remained completely unfazed by it.

"No need to stare at me like that. I'm not the one who was behind that one."

"You don't know the reason either?"

"I wasn't told. Though I suspect that this was the earliest time you could do it and if they had a feeling you needed a bit more time you could have had it."

"Why didn't they tell me from the beginning on?"

"Probably they just wanted to make sure you did your best." His guardian shrugged. He didn't really give a damn as long as Allen managed to do what was expected.

"One week longer… I could have gotten some decent sleep that way and done the stupid exams without feeling dead tired." Allen fumed.

"See it from the bright side. Now you are done with them and can enjoy your time while all the others still have exams. I think most will be jealous when they see someone carefree right now. Pray that you won't get bullied."

Never turn to Cross Marian if you want comfort. Like usual when he was upset his guardian knew exactly what to say to make him even more angry.

"As if any of them would have wanted to study useless things nonstop."

"No one knows that. All everyone will see is that they have exams and you have free time."

Allen sighed.

"Do you have time to rest right now? I thought you have to go to school."

"GAAAAH!"

As Allen ran out he could hear the man roar with laughter. One day he would so punch him!

Cross smirked as he heard the door fall close. He wondered how long it would take his idiot apprentice to realize that he had a cell and could use it to call his friend.

* * *

Allen had indeed remembered the existence of his cell as he was about halfway to school already and phoned Lenalee. She had been mad at him at first, but eventually calmed down. Mornings really weren't the best time for him.

Once he arrived she told him that at first they would learn math and later on join with the rest of the student council to organize whatever could already be done - like making sure that not everyone would be doing the same things, assigning rooms and drawing a timetable for special halls that more then just one group or class wanted to use. Allen was sure there was more than enough to do by what Lenalee told him.

"I never thought about such things like school… or school festivals before."

"You still have a lot of things to see yet. This festival is special because the whole Black Order is participating. Children as well as adults have a say in it, it's something for every age too. That's why a lot of people from this town… and even further away come here to see it." Lenalee already was looking forward to it. Or maybe it was more the prospect of summer holidays and shopping that brought the excitement, Allen wasn't sure.

In the afternoon they went to the student council rooms, where some students were busy looking through papers and sorting them or working at the computers. They were welcomed warmly and quickly asked to help out with making sure that the special rooms were not assigned to two classes or groups at the same time.

When Lenalee left to take one of her exams Allen also used the time to take a break. He just opened the room to bump into Lavi. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's alright Allen." The older boy smiled happily. "We just saw Lenalee too, have you been here with her till now?"

"Yes. But what do you mean with _we_?" Allen asked since Lavi came alone.

"Yuu-chan of course. He'll be here in a minute. Anyway, where were you heading?"

"I wanted to take a break. Also I am missing Timcanpy. I thought maybe he is in school. I fell asleep yesterday when Kanda brought me home and am not sure if he was with me then or not."

"Right! I forgot, you might want to stay away from Kanda today!"

"MOYASHI!" Kanda pushed Lavi away from the door and loomed over Allen.

"Eh… hello to you too Kanda." Judging by the way Kanda's eyes were narrowing even further, that might have been the wrong thing to say.

"You! Not only did I have to take you home and carry you to your fucking room, but then you also leave your damn pet behind. And the fucking thing has nothing better to do than eat my soba!"

Timcanpy, who was flying behind Kanda indeed, was heavily insulted by the boys word (and not for the first time that day. Being the cute creature that Timcanpy was he at once started to munch on Kanda's perfect hair.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" The other roared as his hair suddenly felt slightly damp and was sticking up in a weird angle.

Lavi, who had been chuckling ever since Kanda had come into the room had to hold on to the next chair to keep himself from falling to the floor from laughing.

Allen cleared his throat and bit his lip in order to keep himself from joining Lavi. He smiled sweetly at Kanda. "You shouldn't have insulted him."

Allen grabbed Timcanpy by his tail, before the other could grab him and then swiftly stepped back in case he would take a swing like he used to do with Lavi sometimes.

"I fucking insulted your fucking pet? That damn thing kept making a racket all night long! And then in the morning it fucking ate MY soba!" Kanda growled out while clenching his fists.

"How cruel. Timcanpy isn't used to sleepovers. And you could have given him something else to eat too. Of course something like that would happen. Did you never have a pet?" Allen patted his first and only present from Cross (though he secretly thought that the piano they had gotten was for his sake as well).

Kanda threw his dictionary against Allen's head.

"Ouch!"

"Who the fuck would _think_ of feeding a _golem_?" Apparently the white haired boy did though. He really wondered how the kid had gotten accepted into their school… and was allowed to skip years too!

"You know what, let's go eat something, I'll invite you to some soba since that's the root of the problem, right?" Allen smiled all the more and dragged Kanda away, not giving him the time to protest.

"Hey wait for me! I wanna join too." Lavi yelled and ran after them.

* * *

Allen wisely kept his beloved golem away from Kanda for the next few days. His eyebrows always started to twitch in a fascinating way when he saw either him or his golem. Since he couldn't do anything about his own person he at least decided his golem must be kept save.

Thanks to him helping out with the festival he saw the other student every day. Along with Lavi and Lenalee. Allen truly enjoyed being able to talk with them without having to study (though they still had exams they did talk about a lot of things that were not related to school.)

At one such occasion Lavi confessed just how he got Kanda to join the student council.

Kanda, being fed up with working for things that he held no interest in (which was practically everything besides his kendo lessons), had left earlier than them, muttering about how he would never be part of the 'fucking council' ever again.

Lavi had such an evil grin on his face that he just had to ask him, about how he got him into the council in first place. One could only get into the council if their grades were good, if your classmates would support you and if you _signed up_ for it.

"Ah… that was so fun." Lavi told him, grinning even more evilly. "My grandfather said it would look good on records and such I signed up. Now of course it would be boring if I was alone here, without my best friend, right?"

Without waiting he continued. "That's what I thought as well, as such I decided that Yuu-chan had to join me. Of course I knew that he would need a push to accept and went to his house, to bother him with all the stuff that we needed to get signed, hand in and such. Every year when school starts we have a hell to sign and check and stuff. Checking the contact details of yourself and your parents, paying the school for books and other stuff, signing up for special courses… you get what I mean."

"Aye, so you went there and made him sign the extra paper?" Allen asked.

"Mah… you underestimate Yuu. He reads everything he signs. I just made him do it together with me and offered to take his stuff along."

"Wasn't he afraid of you forging his sign?"

Lavi shook his head. "It's not easy to forge his sign. And I didn't have to anyway. I just let the things drop into a dirty puddle. Then rushed back, having refilled his forms again so he would just have to sign again. He checked the first few things and then was too annoyed so just signed the rest along."

"… Somehow I almost feel sorry for him. How come he hasn't killed you?"

"I was one week in hospital. Still it was definitely worth it! And you shouldn't feel sorry for him. We got plenty of free lessons thanks to that. Of course now it's all work but in total I think we still had more free time than otherwise. Besides, it brought him out of his normal rhythm for a little bit. Kanda needs that once in a while. Luckily Tiedoll agrees, else even with his sign we couldn't have kept him in the council."

"Well, he definitely won't join next year though."

"You're too sweet… and way too naïve, Allen." Lavi started to laugh. "I naturally got next years sign as well. I asked Bak if they had the University papers for next year already and they did. The same trick wouldn't work twice on him. It already was risky this time."

Allen didn't know whether his new friend was brilliant or suicidal. Most likely he was a mix of both. "I think that's like two weeks in hospital for you at least… most likely longer though."

"Uhm… I will manage somehow."

His friend was simply crazy. Allen wondered if all students were like his friends: a genius with no feeling for danger, a brooding man with no anger management and a girl with a sixth sense that had yet to fail.

Lenalee, while she did not know the exact questions only really covered some topics in each of her exam subjects. She said she had a feeling only things of certain areas would be asked. So far she always was right and according to Lavi that was normal for her.

As he thought about this he decided it really was no wonder that he felt so comfortable and normal around them.

* * *

Finally the last official exam day arrived. The pre-work so far had been finished in time as well. Allen enjoyed his free time and listened to music while wandering through the school. He still managed to get lost as such he considered it good training for the future.

Somehow during his wandering he ended up in one of the three music rooms that belonged to the high school. He had been here before together with Lenalee when she showed him the school. There were pictures on the wall from students and teachers, along with some other decorations, that he hadn't seen before.

Probably those things had already been prepared in advance for next week, he thought and smiled as he saw a picture of Lavi together with some other people that he didn't know. He also found one of Lenalee, though none of Kanda.

"Hey Tim, shall we add one more picture?" He asked the golem as he headed over to the computer that was besides the teacher's desk and turned it on. Timcanpy seemed to agree as he opened his mouth and projected one of his images to the wall.

Chuckling softly Allen nodded his head. "I agree, this one looks… good." Though the computer was password protected it was no problem for Allen to circumvent this obstacle. He transferred the picture to the computer, printed it and made sure he had left no traces on the computer before turning it of again.

He placed the picture besides the other ones on the wall with a smile. All his friends were there, so it seemed more complete to him now. After that was accomplished he went to the piano, which was standing besides the window and decided to play a little bit. He hadn't played _his_ in a while now and was missing it.

* * *

After their last exam this year Kanda quickly got up and left the room before any of the annoying girls in his class could follow him. They were pissing him off to no end. What was so difficult to understand about him not accepting any role whatsoever in the damn school play? Lavi, who had finished his exam early, had already left twenty minutes ago.

No doubt the redhead would call him later on to go out or whatever. Maybe he would even join him.

"Kanda!" He turned around as he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"What?" He asked as he saw Fou.

"Have you seen Allen?"

"… Moyashi? Why would I have?"

"Could you go looking for him? He's still somewhere here but I can't find him."

He rolled his eyes. Why did he have to go look for that fucking kid now?

"Just do it, it shouldn't take that long. Just tell him that he has to finish signing up for University today still."

"… Che. Stupid moyashi."

"Thanks Kanda." The secretary smiled.

Kanda walked to all the usual places where the white haired kid normally was, but he was neither in the student council rooms nor in the lunchroom. The kitchen as well as the garden outside were also void of the idiot.

He just passed the music room when he heard someone play the piano. Or actually it didn't sound like playing the piano… more like torturing it... And everyone who was unlucky enough to hear it. The person probably had never seen a piano before in their life ever. He barged into the room, intending to put an end to the abuse his ears had to go through.

"STOP THA-"

"Eh? K-Kanda?"

"Moyashi! …"

Allen looked at him dumfound. "What the fuck are you doing here, moyashi?"

"It's Allen. And obviously I play the piano. Maybe you need glasses if you couldn't tell that!"

"Playing? You mean more like destroying it. Didn't you say you can play it? Or are you trying to torture someone? If that's the case you'd not be doing too bad."

Allen blushed and glared. "I'm not playing from a score. I'm trying to play a slower version of a new song I heard."

"So you mean to say you can actually play something? Is it something better than 'All my little ducklings'?" He sneered at Allen, knowing he had hit a nerve.

"Jerk!" Allen ground out before he closed his eyes and started to play another song.

Kanda kept his next retort, a bit surprised by the sudden change of quality in the music. He sat down on a chair next to the boy and listened to the slow melody the other was playing. By the way the other's hands moved he guessed it wasn't the easiest piece either.

After the last note faded out Allen started to play another one. Kanda found himself leaning against the window and closing his eyes. Hearing nothing but the other boy play was nice. Good thing that most students had already left school.

"I didn't think you could play this well." He said after a few more pieces.

Allen smiled a somewhat bitter smile. "My father used to teach me to play. He and his brother had learnt it from childhood on. His brother actually became a quite famous pianist too."

"Will you follow in his footsteps?"

"I don't think so. I love the piano and all and I'll definitely keep playing it. But I wouldn't want to have all the attention on me. Of course I could play late at night in some bars probably, however I don't think that would make me happy."

"Play something else." Kanda _requested_ and leaned back against the window. Allen found that for once he didn't have the urge to say something spiteful to the other. He looked too peaceful at the moment, even his normal scowl was gone.

As such he did indeed play another song, a lullaby that his father had played often. Kanda closed his eyes and relaxed fully. He didn't know why, but the sound of the piano made him relax more and more. It wasn't often that Kanda felt this way.

"Why did you come here by the way?" Allen asked after he finished it.

"I was looking for you. You should finish your registration for university or something. You're such a bother to find." Kanda replied calmly, after all, it wasn't his problem if the other missed the deadline.

"Oh dear… I completely forgot about that. And why didn't you just phone me?"

"Does it look like I have your damn number?"

"Right… Only Lenalee and Lavi had it. Give me your mobile for a second."

And wonder of all, Kanda gave him his mobile, after he made sure the other's number would be saved under 'Moyashi' and let Allen type it in.

"Next time call me. And don't make me play the piano for half an hour when you actually have to tell me something important!"

Kanda shrugged. "You still have enough time."

"Let's go!"

Kanda's eyebrows arched. "Are you trying to command me around?"

"Nope, I am suggesting. Still come along."

"Moyashi… are you still getting lost?" Kanda asked, though he got up and went out of the room, ignoring the white haired boy shouting his name at him. A moyashi would always stay a moyashi.

* * *

The following week Allen was mostly busy with helping the seniors with their play. He sighed as he thought about the unfortunate event, that got him into this position.

Two senior girls had come into the music room on Monday. One to practice some pieces for the play and the other to talk with her friend. It apparently didn't take them long to take a good look at the pictures on the wall… and to notice Kanda's.

Now that alone would not have been bad. Just that those two girls unfortunately were infatuated with the elder student… and started to arguing about who was allowed to take the picture home. One of them snatched it from the wall and the other tried to take it away from her. One thing led to the other and in the end the picture was ripped and the girl who should have played the piano had sprained her wrist and wouldn't be able to perform.

Again, all of this would not have bothered him much, if only Kanda hadn't gotten wind of the whole thing. The black haired student had been furious, even more though as he saw the rest of the picture, taken at the time when Timcanpy had messed up his hair. After a shouting match between the two, he told Lavi, that Allen was quite good with the piano. Lavi had been excited - even more though when he realized that Allen was way better than their first choice. The only thing the redhead was unhappy about was his tiny role now, and while this had been fun at the beginning, at the end he couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that he had to help out now.

He had learned some new pieces that week, had almost died from suppressed laughter the first time he saw the whole play (he just couldn't help but laugh at the cliché of it) and saw one of the performers almost getting killed by Komui for stealing Lenalee's picture from the music room. Lavi had told him that Kanda never had pictures anywhere in school as things made by him or even worse - photographs were always stolen. In case of photographs a hurt wrist was actually not bad at all apparently. He apologized to the stoic boy later on and received a 'Che' as answer before the elder student turned away.

As such it had been quiet an eventful week, and aside from having to perform at the festival the next day a very interesting one too.

He would be glad when the performance was over.

* * *

Luckily Friday had arrived fast. They would perform in the early afternoon, as such he and Lenalee decided to go and take a look around before noon. Lavi also was already at school when they arrived and the three of them went through the grounds together. There was so much to see that it was impossible to see everything unless you just walked through in one go and didn't look at things properly.

A big stage had been built in the middle between all the buildings of the Black Order. Some people would be performing here until the end of the day. In other halls there were sports competitions or performances, Lenalee's favorite was the fashion show, that a lot of girls had made their own dresses for.

That day he saw a lot of dances too. Lenalee's class had one of the best he was able to watch that day. His friend of course was part of it. The class decided on a group dance and to Allen's untrained eye it seemed perfect. No one seemed to be behind and all moved in sync. Judging the applause they got the audience seemed to agree with him.

Though the best part of it all was that there was cheap food everywhere and since Lavi and Lenalee were part of the student council they only had to pay half still which was wonderful for Allen who had a snack in his hand all the time.

At midday Kanda joined up with them to Lavi's surprise.

"I thought you wouldn't come until it's time for the play."

Kanda ignored the remark and went to sit down at one of the empty tables. "Do they have soba somewhere?"

Allen meanwhile was busy buying some 'real' meal for himself - which was considerably smaller than what he normally ate (just enough to fill three people, instead of ten) thanks to the snacks he had had before.

"The fuck! How can you eat that, Moyashi?" Kanda exclaimed.

"Yuu-chan… have you never noticed this before?" To Lavi's surprise the other shook his head ever so slightly.

"Anyway… don't be surprised. Allen must be quite the sportsman though to keep his body as slim as it is."

Allen didn't bother to reply before he had finished eating his food, which as always was in no time.

"I just have an eating disorder. My body requires more food than what's normal." He shrugged "It could be worse though. At least I am not one of those size zero idiots."

"You're the opposite." Lenalee laughed. "I am sure many girls would like part of your disorder. They eat almost nothing and have a hard time to keep thin, you eat lots and lose weight."

Allen chuckled "Well… I wonder what kind of disorder is better. Eating nothing or eating much."

"So that fucking meal size is normal for you?"

Allen smirked. "Now you remind me of Lavi, when he first had a meal with me."

"Don't compare me to the stupid rabbit!"

Lenalee quickly clamped her hand over the redhead's mouth before the older boy could react to Kanda's comment. "Don't forget what happened last year, when you two started to fight at the festival." She reminded them.

Kanda che'd and Lavi sulked for a moment while Allen stared at the two.

"What happened?" Allen figured that no one would tell what happened if he didn't ask.

"Not much." Lenalee sighed. "Just another 'friendly' fight that ended with Bak being so angry that he made them come to school for two weeks after holidays started. They had to clean the dirtiest classes and get rid of chewing gums on chairs and desks."

Allen was a little late with covering his very lovely grin which made Kanda clench his firsts while Lavi groaned.

"Lenalee, there is no need to tell him such stories!" Lavi whined.

"Don't good friends share their memories?" the girl's smile held something evil this time.

"Which reminds me that we know shit of moyashi's past."

"Wow, I'm surprised you are interested?" Lenalee hadn't seen this one coming.

"Che…" The other turned and stared away from his annoying companions.

"There is not much to tell about me anyway." He looked at her with a… very dark expression. "Ever since I met Cross I had to go through hell to survive."

"Ehehe… You don't have to tell us. Cheer up mate." Lavi tried to comfort his friend.

"We should get going or you'll be too late to do your performance. Why aren't you part of the play Kanda?" Lenalee decided to once again make her friends think of different things. Sometimes she thought they were stupid, for all that they were called brilliant by most.

"Why the hell would I? It's a fucking school play!"

"And it's the last one you will have in High School. I think it would have been fun."

"I helped all week with the fucking stage design! I'll definitely not bother with the fucking play!"

* * *

They arrived just in time to get properly ready for the play, yet late enough to not have to be part of the nervous chattering that normally happens before.

Lenalee helped Lavi with his wig while Allen went to the piano to see if everything was right. When nothing was out of order he sat down and waited there, while watching the others' frenetic last minute preparations. He truly was happy to be out of sight for the most part. There would also be no light on him, except at the very end when all would bow.

Kanda soon after joined him, like he had done the previous week when he had played in the music room.

"Where's Lenalee?" Allen asked, expecting his friend to come here as well soon.

"Still with Lavi most likely."

After ten minutes of more waiting the announcement for the play was finally made and the actors went onto the stage. Allen played a fast melody for the introduction phase. After that he would have to wait a few minutes until the girl and the boy would meet at the end of holidays and then have to part. A slow and sad melody for this scene.

Then came the big surprise, the meeting in the school, both being late on the first day. It truly was a good thing Allen had joined when they practiced. Just thinking of the love story and the partially awkward acting made him smile again.

Kanda from time to time smirked but for the most part looked utterly bored.

Then came Lavi's big part. He was the old, grey haired headmaster. Allen could see Lenalee covering her mouth with her hand and taking out her cell, most likely to save the moment for all eternity on it. Even Kanda seemed amused and he could have sworn he heard a tiny half-chuckle/cough.

Lavi's two words had been joined by a few more. He now was allowed to say five sentences, just as the 'couple' on stage entered the 'auditorium'.

Lavi ended his 'speech' and raised his hands. "Welcome…" He turned to his 'teachers' who were standing a few steps behind him on the stage. The girl that was closest to him whispered fiercely to Lavi "Get on with it already!"

Lavi ignored her and looked at the students and the audience instead. Allen's legs would have given out on him had he not been sitting. He couldn't stop himself from laughing. Trust Lavi who had wanted to have a bigger role to drag it out to this length. Allen bowed over the piano shoulders shaking. He bit his lips and put his gloved hands over his mouth to stifle the laughter.

A quick glance at Lenalee told him, that she wasn't doing any better. "Milking it." Kanda said in an annoyed voice that caused Allen, who had just managed to calm enough, to start giggling all over again.

The redhead's lips quivered slightly before he finally chose to continue with his last word that he also drew out. "… baaackk!" Allen, who should have been playing after that, was in no position to do so. Luckily the actors who played the students ignored it and just cheered anyway.

After that the play proceeded smoothly and at the end the audience was satisfied apparently.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur. They explored a few classrooms, Allen got some more snacks and finally it was time for the seniors to assemble in the auditorium with their families. Lavi and Kanda would get their certificates there and they joined up with all the seniors backstage. Lenalee and Allen didn't join them this time.

Lavi's grandpa was there, as well as Kanda's whole family. He had two brothers Daisya (who reminded him a bit of Lavi) and Marie. Tiedoll, Kanda's step-father, was as good at expressing his emotions as Kanda was in hiding them. The man started crying when it was Kanda's turn to get his certificate and cried even more when his _son_ walked over to them.

Lavi's grandpa was rather on the strict side, though it was clear that he cared a great deal for his grandson. He didn't cry, but the proud smile on his face, as Lavi walked down, certificate in his hand and a big smile on his face, told everything about his feelings.

The one thing Allen hadn't counted with this evening though, was for Cross Marian to appear behind him all of a sudden. "Shouldn't you be up there too, idiot?"

Allen gaped at him before he found the words to reply. "But I am not a senior! Besides… what are you doing here?"

"Idiot! You did take the exams and you will start with University. The Black Order wouldn't take someone who did not have a certificate." Lenalee nodded. "You should go now as well."

As if on cue Fou came up to them and pulled him to the backstage area.

"Wait here until you are called."

When it was Allen's turn to get his certificate he was blushing and stumbled slightly. Bak smiled encouragingly at him. He explained quickly, that Allen was a new transfer students that had taken the exams here, before handing him his certificate and sending him down.

He wasn't sure what the smile on Cross' face meant, when he came down. But at least it didn't seem to be something bad. "Well done, idiot apprentice." The man said, ending with his normal insult though for once without any bite in his voice. Allen, who had not expected Cross to come at all hid his eyes with his bangs, so that only a soft smile could be seen. "You seem really pleased." Lenalee smiled at her friend. The boy always got into dark moods when his guardian was mentioned. But he certainly was happy that he was here now.

"Last but not least I hope you all will have a nice summer holiday." Bak said. "To those who decided to leave the school next year or to not study at all: I hope you enjoyed your time at the Black Order and that you will be happy with whatever you want to do in the future."

He continued after taking a big breath. "Though I do hope that I will be able to say _'Welcome… baaackk'_ to most next year." Bak said in an imitation of Lavi's voice. The cheering and laughing that had erupted in the room could be heard even at the buildings entrance.

* * *

After the ceremony was over they decided to go eating. Cross had tried to invite Lenalee, when suddenly Komui appeared behind him. While he didn't show his usual reaction (like killing whoever dared to get too close to his beloved sister), he made sure to keep as much distance between her and Cross as possible.

Tiedoll and Cross had known each other from work since a long time ago as such they agreed to go celebrate together (never mind that Kanda hated the thought of more people at the table.) Lavi had gotten wind of this and decided to ask his grandpas to join up with his friends. The more the merrier after all. His best friend almost killed him for it. He then dragged Lenalee in, in hopes of her helping him to keep the older boy at a calm enough mood. This was proven difficult when Lavi and Daisya hit it off right away and started to talk about a younger Kanda.

Komui, not wanting his beloved sister to be together with the worst womanizer ever quickly decided to join them as well, which meant Bak Chan and Fou, who needed to talk with him still, had to tag along.

Seeing the size of the group that had decided to join them at the restaurant made Kanda's day. He suddenly wished he could just place a bomb somewhere at the restaurant and stop all their worthless chatter.

At least no one had bothered him when they were eating and now all were busy talking with one another. That was until a certain white haired enigma dared to calmly state that if he would keep his sour look he would get ugly wrinkles in no time.

"Who the fuck would think I care." Kanda glared at him.

Allen calmly took the last bite of his dessert before answering with a smile. "You certainly look like you do, especially when one considers your hair. Any-"

"One more word moyashi and I will cut of your hair with Mugen."

"-way, I was wondering how your father knows Cross. And still my name is Allen you imbecile!" The younger sniffed.

Kanda growled. "He's not my father! Tiedoll is my foster father, Marie and Daisya are not my real brothers either, moyashi"

"It's Allen!

"I don't care, moyashi. And I also don't know why your master knows the old man."

"From work." Lavi's grandpa informed them. "Both of them are scientists, they worked on some projects together. You met Tiedoll a long time ago too, Allen. He still remembers you, though he said you had brown hair then."

"I don't remember. Why do you know my name?"

The older man introduced himself. "I'm Bookman, Lavi's grandfather. He tells me a lot about school and his friends, of course also about you. Congratulations on passing your exams by the way."

"Thanks. Lavi helped me a lot too! And he let me use all of his old scripts to learn."

"I'm great, aren't eye?" Lavi put his hand on Allen's head and smiled. "We decided to go drink somewhere, Allen. You're joining too, Marian is busy talking… or now he is flirting with that blonde woman over there. Anyway, he said to have fun and that aspirin helps against a headache in the morning."

"Who would give drinks to a minor? Stupid master!"

"Che. No way he would get into a club! Besides, he obviously is afraid of alcohol!"

"They so let me into a club!"

"Then let's see you try." Kanda said with an evil grin on his face. He so would rub it in if Allen wouldn't get in.

"Allen…" Cross had taken it upon himself to stop flirting with the beautiful woman for a minute. "I won't be back tonight. If you drink too much and mess up anything I want it gone before I am back tomorrow!"

"You're the one who drinks too much!" But naturally his master's attention had returned to the woman again. Allen sighed. He was surrounded by idiots!

"Marie and Daisya are driving."

"Hell no. I drive. Daisya always gets drunk in clubs, baka usagi."

"Awww come on, _bro_. Tiedoll would even give me his car." Daisya waved the keys in front of his eyes.

"Tiedoll must want his car destroyed then. Drive on your own, I will definitely not drive with you."

"Daisya, come on let's go. You drive with me." Marie took the keys from Daisya who in turn pouted.

"I can join as long as someone drives me home afterwards. I have to be back by 1 am." Lenalee told them. "My brother is way too worried. He almost would have joined if Fou wouldn't have held him back."

"Don't worry Lenalee, I will drive you back when it's time then." Marie promised.

"Thanks!"

With that they left the adults to catch up with one another. Kanda was forced to let Allen and Lenalee drive with him. At least those two were more silent than Lavi and Daisya would have been.

Allen, to Kanda's dismay got into the club without problems. Most likely because he was standing right behind Lavi and Marie and was too small to be noticed. The dirty grin on the other's face as he looked at him annoyed him even further.

"Woohoo, check out that girl over there, ain't she hot?" Lavi at once had set his eyes on a girl at the counter.

Daisya naturally agreed with him. Leave it to idiots to think alike. Lenalee rolled her eyes and dragged Allen to the only free table in the room. Marie and Kanda joined them, while Lavi and Daisya went to get drinks for all… or to flirt with the girls they had seen over there.

"High School will be lonely without you guys next year." Lenalee stated.

Kanda didn't bother to respond, but his sour look had vanished when she said that.

"It's not as if I actually was in High School." Allen said.

"You were here at the end though."

"You'll still see me at lunch. Jeryy's cooking is to amazing to eat at some other place."

"Is fucking food all you ever think about moyashi?"

"Not all can live on soba alone. It's a wonder your body still works, it sure lacks a variety of vitamins, don't you think?"

"Stop it you two! Let's celebrate, not argue for once!" Lenalee interrupted another heated staring contest that Marie had watched with interest.

"Are they always like this?"

"Worse. Sometimes their bickering involves fists and Mugen."

"Kanda, if you continue like this Tiedoll will take Mugen away again." Marie warned his younger brother.

"He won't know shit if you don't tell him!" Kanda answered and realized too late that Allen was showing his happiest smile yet. "I'll kill you if you say anything, moyashi."

"Say what?" The innocent smile on his face made Kanda itch to suffocate him.

Lavi and Daisya came back with drinks. "Coke only for Lenalee and Allen. You two are too young for anything else." Daisya smirked.

Lenalee didn't seem too happy with that while Allen, who knew more than enough about alcohol thanks to his guardian, didn't mind at all. The only thing he minded was the sneer on Kanda's face.

They cheered on managing another year of school with top grades (with the exception of Allen who had had too much to study to get as great grades.)

A while later on his way to the toilet Allen saw a few guys in a corner of the club playing poker. As he stared at them one of them asked if he wanted to join, or if he was afraid he would lose all his money and clothes. Never one to pass on a challenge, especially when it came to poker, Allen naturally joined. At first the guys seemed way too happy. They were going to rip of a naïve High School kid after all. However after five rounds into the game their smiles vanished and they decided that a new tactic was in order.

"You're good. Let me invite you to a coke, mate."

"Thanks." Allen smiled while shuffling the cards and dealing them again. They waited until the other guy came back with a few glasses. Allen drank his in one go, feeling thirsty, before starting the next round. He never realized the grins, that were spreading on his opponents faces.

* * *

As over an hour had passed and the white haired boy still had not returned to his comrades Lenalee got worried about him. "I'll go look where Allen is. I think something might have happened to him."

"Stay here. I'll find our little friend." Lavi promised and Kanda joined him. As they made their way to the back of the club Lavi saw him at a table with some men, playing cards.

"What the fuck are you doing, moyashi?" Kanda asked, glaring at the boy.

"I'm… win…ning at poker." Allen slurred a bit and Lavi took note of the three empty glasses in front of him.

"And drinking spiked drinks." He said. "What did you add to his coke?"

"Vodka" One sneered.

Kanda also took in the glasses and glared at the three men. "Couldn't win so you had to resort to such tricks? Che…" The men glared back at him. "Keep to your own business, brat!"

"So that's why I feel a… bit dizzy?" Allen asked confused. "Let me finish this round still." He smiled an overly sweet smile and placed four cards back onto the pile in the middle and took some new ones, he then looked at the cards with a demonic grin on his face. "I never loshe at card games…" he hiccupped and revealed his cards.

"Four of a kind!" He took the money on the table and packed it away. "I'm sh- … so-rry, but as you shee my friends are waiting."

"Wait… where do you think you are going with our money?" The men got up and one of them pushed Allen against the table. Kanda, who had had enough, quickly grabbed the men's wrist and twisted his arm. Lavi grabbed another one and pushed him into the last one.

"Fucking idiots!"

"If you wanna rip someone of choose wiser next time."

Allen was thankful for his friends help. He had had to deal with angry men before, but never had he felt so dizzy when he did. It had gotten all the worse when he had stood up. He never realized the dizziness like this when he had been sitting.

Kanda shot another warning glare at the men. They didn't seem to want to cause problems anymore as such he let go of the one he was still holding and pushed him into the other two.

"Let's go back then." He glared at Allen, all this work for some idiot who got drunk when playing poker for pocket money.

Lavi steadied Allen and lead him back to their table. At first Lenalee was really mad, but Allen looked too cute swaying on his feet. Though surprisingly enough his speech was only a little bit slurred. "How did he get drunk? What did he do to get alcohol? I want some cocktail too!"

"Moyashi was playing some fucking children's card games at the back with some men."

"They got him drunk and wanted to rip him off."

"Good thing you interrupted then."

"… did fine on… my own."

"Sure you did, kid." Daisya was laughing his ass off at Allen while Marie looked worried at him.

"Let's hope it was just alcohol and nothing else." Marie said as Allen plopped down besides him and smiled. "I… feel fine."

A few minutes later though he was asleep with his head leaning against Marie.

Lavi quickly used the chance to paint his face. This time he wasn't stopped by Lenalee. She thought he deserved it for drinking without her. Marie checked his watch and told them that it was a good time to go home or Lenalee would be late.

Lavi and Daisya were disappointed, but quickly exchanged phone numbers to Kanda's absolute horror. He hoped Daisya was staying at his apartment or the redhead would definitely destroy his summer holidays… even more than he already would.

"Daisya drive with Kanda this time. I'll bring Lenalee and Lavi back. Can you take Allen as well?"

"Fine, I'll take both of them along, but don't touch anything in the car!" He glared at Daisya.

Daisya just grinned. "Still as touchy as always."

"Che…!"

Lenalee bit her lips. "Didn't Cross say that he wouldn't be around tonight? What if Allen feels bad and needs help?"

"He has his fucking pet to take care of him."

"Kanda, don't talk like this to a lady! Marie sighed.

"Shut up!"

"Just take him to our house. I'm sure Tiedoll would be happy about it."

Kanda fumed and left without another word, leaving the youngest boy asleep at the table and the others to stare after him.

"Jeez, always so helpful." Daisya remarked while waking Allen up and helping him stand.

"Don't worry Lenalee, Allen will stay at our house tonight." Lenalee nodded and thanked Marie. Good thing Kanda had an older brother that was responsible.

"I'm sure panda wouldn't have minded him at our place either if it's too much trouble." Lavi offered, but Marie shook his head. "It'll be good for Kanda too to have someone over who likes to argue with him."

"D-Don't like to arg… he'sh annoying."

"But you like him." Lenalee jabbed a finger at him and Allen nodded. "It's… fun."

Daisya laughed and clapped Allen's back, making him lose his balance and fall down. "… Sorry." Allen shook his head and got up again with Lavi's help.

They made their way to Kanda's car and Lavi helped Allen into the backseat.

"I'll give you guys a call tomorrow."

"Don't bother. I won't answer if it's from you."

"Cruel as always Yuu-chan! But I can call your beloved moyashi-chan instead now."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kanda's Mugen was pointed at him and Lavi squeaked. When had he taken that damn sword into the car?

Lenalee pulled at Lavi's sleeve and dragged him to Marie's car. "See you soon, guys." She called. "Hurry Lavi, if I'm late my brother might call the police and god knows who else!"

Kanda didn't waste time and started to speed towards their place when Daisya said, that he would be sleeping at his own apartment.

"So kid, how's the first time being drunk?"

Allen shrugged after a minute. "Tired."

"Damn. I was hoping he would puke into your car."

"I'd throw him into the ocean with weights on his legs if he did."

Daisya ignored his brothers lovely words. "You played poker with them, right? Was it worth getting drunk at least? How much did you win?"

"Don't… know. Shome hundred?"

"Fuck moyashi! Do you often play for money?"

Allen shrugged again. He was too tired and felt too weird to want to talk.

"With that much money next time we'll go out it'll be on you." Daisya grinned.

"… ok, one r-round." Allen answered before falling asleep again.

When they arrived back at their house Tiedoll indeed was happy to see that they had a guest, even though the guest was sleeping in Daisya's arms at the moment. He had tried to wake the white haired boy up, but the kid wouldn't and he refused to punch him like Kanda had suggested.

"That's the first time one of Yuu's friend's is sleeping here." He cried from happiness. Kanda's hand started to itch for his Mugen at once.

"Prepare his bed in your room, Yuu!" The old man said before placing a hand on the boys cheek and ignoring Kanda who had started to shake with anger and would have loved to throw things at his _father_. "Is he drunk?"

"Some guys spiked his drink when they played poker." Daisya filled him in.

Tiedoll chuckled. "So he still plays the game. I remember the guys at the lab complaining about how he always bet them and won a hell of money. The kid had to pay for Marian's debts. The guy is so irresponsible." His voice held a hint of disdain at the end.

"But he can't do much of that in University."

"Didn't I tell you? I'm working with Marian at the moment. The payment is covering even that guys expenses with ease."

"Is that guy any good then?" Kanda asked truly interested for once.

"He's the best computer scientist at the moment. Even the government keeps a watch on him. He hasn't done anything against the law, but with his skill he probably could cover it up quite easily."

"Oh, better than you?" Daisya didn't think that was possible.

"He's the better programmer, I'm the better builder I would say. It's a close call. Allen is probably a programmer as well. He was learning a lot when I met him all those years back. Marian told me that the kid has gotten some nice skills meanwhile."

"What was Cross working at before this new project?" Kanda hoped to get an answer to this. It was a question he never had the time to ask the younger boy.

"I don't know. Rumor has it that it was some sort of super-computer. I don't know how much of that is true though. Things like that always sound fishy. All I know is that one of the people on the project died recently."

_Damn._ So Tiedoll didn't know either.

"How come you are interested in it though?" Tiedoll was happy about that fact, but he also wondered.

"Never mind." Was all his beloved son answered however.

"Anyway… go and prepare his bed Yuu. It's best to sleep in a bed." Tiedoll said while watching the sleeping boy Daisya was still holding.

Kanda, still thinking about the information and about how likely it was that Allen knew more went upstairs and for once did as he was asked to do. After a few minutes Daisya brought Allen up, knowing that if his brother was asked to bring Allen to his room he would start a fight over it.

Marie came home a few minutes later and quietly checked on them, before heading for his own room to get some hours of sleep as well.

* * *

Well that's it for now. Some things that I have been asked should have been explained now. And just for your information: Kanda, being the loner he is, never had joined the group at midday. So until the festival he had never seen Allen eat. And even then he didn't eat his normal amount as he had been snacking the whole time. ^o^

On a side note: I LOVE, LOOOOOVE **Chemistry - Period**!!! It's such a great opening. Truly fitting for Fullmetal Alchemist (I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Fullmetal Alchemist!!! So much that it's a series I probably will never write a story for) Most of this chapter was written while listening to that lovely song.

**Review please!**


	5. Family meeting?

Finally finished the next chapter! Go me!!!

Somehow this chapter was really hard work. Most of the time when I write a story the characters start moving on their own and I am just the idiot for them and type what they want to do/say. With Kanda more often than not that would be 'sit down, eat soba, meditate, train with Mugen and not saying a word for the whole day'. ¬_¬

Finally the relationship of the two … is finally moving on a little bit (they're both slow, so they don't quiet go along with what I want…) as a setback time is moving more slowly (last chapter was two weeks… and now two days. Somehow I really think I'm doing something wrong :( Unfortunately my beta reader isn't back before the 28th so I still don't get the second opinion on things that I'd need. And yes, **this chapter isn't beta read yet** either.

**Anyway, thanks a lot for reviewing my story ^o^ It's really important to me :)**

**Now have fun reading! ^****_~**

* * *

Like usual Kanda woke up first the next morning. He sat up and looked at his _guest_, who was currently still sleeping on the makeshift bed. The boy looked a lot more peaceful now than he did when awake. Peaceful and vulnerable.

Kanda scowled as he realized he was staring at the sleeping figure. The white haired kid made him do things he certainly didn't normally do. He wasn't one to help others, ever, so why had he agreed to study with him, or looked for him when Fou didn't find him? He even spent time with him when he didn't have to at the play yesterday. Not only that but he was curious about the boy's past. And now, for the first time ever, he allowed someone else to sleep in _his_ room.

He had thought (hoped in Lavi's case) that he wouldn't see any of his _friends_ for the next two months, as it was summer holidays and yet here he was, having a sleeping moyashi on his floor when it was the first day of holidays.

The boy turned in his sleep and was now lying on his side, a still gloved hand in front of his face. He remembered that Daisya, who had tried to undress the boy so he would sleep more comfortably, couldn't finish as Allen had held on to his clothes. His idiot _brother_ had ignored his advice to just rip his clothes if it bothered him so much.

He wondered quickly if he should just pull the glove away now, but decided against it in the end. He really didn't care about the weird fetish.

Finally he got up, deciding to train and then take a shower. This should take his thoughts of the frustrating subject, for that was what Allen was to him. An annoying, even infuriating presence, which wriggled itself into his life somehow and disturbed his routine. Yet at the same time he was just as intriguing as he was annoying and he even managed to get him to relax completely – and he couldn't remember when he had last felt as relaxed as he had when the boy played the piano.

He returned to his room an hour later to find the other boy sitting and staring around his room. Obviously he hadn't noticed him coming back. Maybe he was feeling out of it from drinking yesterday.

"Do you have a hangover, moyashi?"

"Huh… Kanda?" Allen turned around and blinked. "Good morning." He finally said.

Somehow the reaction surprised Kanda. The boy didn't show any sign of pain and he also didn't show his usual reaction to being called moyashi. "Are you sick or something?"

Allen looked at him confused and tilted his head. "Why would I be?"

Kanda was getting annoyed. Did the idiot drink so much that he forgot everything? "Maybe the spiked drinks yesterday did more damage than I assumed they would." At least he hadn't puked.

Allen thought for a moment. "No… I feel fine. And I do remember what happened yesterday, thank you very much."

"Good."

"Thanks." He smiled at Kanda. "Were you concerned about me?"

And finally Kanda's frown returned to where it belonged to. "Not at all. I just would have _hated_ to throw you out when you are sick."

"You'd throw your guest out? Before giving them any breakfast?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. Leave it to the kid to think of food. "First of all, moyashi, you are not _my _guest. I never invited you in. And second with your bottomless pit of a stomach everyone with normal brain functions would throw you out!"

"Jerk. So if I am not your guest, then why am I in your room? Or is it not…?" Allen trailed off to look around the room again. When Kanda had appeared he had thought it was his room.

"It is my room." Kanda answered the question with a sigh. "The old man wanted you to sleep here."

"That's surprising. I didn't think you'd be the type to do what others ask you to do."

"Shut up."

Allen smiled at him and turned to take another good look at the room. Who knew when he could do that again. Kanda however seemed to catch this and pulled him up. "Go take a shower!" He said considerably irritated.

Sighing he followed the raven haired student to the bathroom, where Kanda threw a towel into his arm. "Come downstairs when you are finished." Kanda strode away, not waiting for an answer.

Twenty minutes later the white haired boy came down into the kitchen, to find Kanda sitting at a big table drinking tea. "Sit down." Kanda told him and got up to get some coffee. "Milk and sugar?"

"Sugar only please. Thanks." Allen half expected a snide comment and smiled happily when none came. Somehow it seemed Kanda was more agreeable this morning.

"What's it with those gloves?" Kanda finally gave in to his curiosity and asked the white haired boy who held the cup in his gloved hands.

Allen stared at the coffee in his hand when he answered. "My hand is ugly. I don't like showing it around."

"That's all?" Just how horrible could a hand be that it needed to be hidden? "Didn't think you were the self conscious type, with that strange tattoo of yours." Kanda pointed to the star-shaped scar on Allen's face.

"Hn… It's not a tattoo, it's a scar. I wouldn't want a tattoo like that. And I can't exactly hide my face."

"So you would if you could." Allen didn't bother to reply to this. He already was regretting his early thoughts, the other was as agreeable as always, which meant not at all.

Luckily for him it was at that moment that Marie came into the kitchen. Allen thanked god that not all in the family were jerks. Actually Kanda was the only one.

"Good morning, Allen. Did you sleep well?" He asked and smiled at the boy who was drinking coffee with a small frown.

"Yes. Thank you. And before you ask, I feel fine and don't have a hangover." Allen said with a smile, rightly predicting the next question Marie wanted to ask.

"Ah damn. You didn't puke in Kanda's car and now you don't even have a hangover. How boring." Daisya followed after Marie and plopped down besides Allen.

"I actually think I wouldn't be here right now, if I had puked in the car." Did Daisya want him dead or something?

"It would have been fun. I was sure you'd have a headache today. Maybe they didn't give you much after all." Daisya shrugged.

"Che… Maybe they didn't for the first time. But there were three glasses and they wanted him drunk for real."

"How about I can just hold more than you assumed?"

"Anyway, I am glad you are well, Allen."

"I would have liked to see Kanda taking care of you." Daisya sounded disappointed for real.

"Thank you so much." Allen said wryly.

"Like hell I would."

"I'm sure you would have. Tiedoll planned a family meeting. And now you don't have a reason to not join. You've already missed the last two, so he made sure that you don't have an excuse this time." Daisya informed his younger brother with a happy smile.

"FUCK NO!" Kanda was seriously pissed off. "I will not join any of those fucking meetings again!"

"Why not? I'm sure everyone would love to congratulate you." Daisya snickered at him.

"SHUT UP!"

"Isn't a family meeting nice?" Allen had never been to a family meeting. Mana had been his only family and with Cross he only met women or people from work.

"It is." Marie said at the same time as Kanda said "Fuck no."

"Kanda hates social gatherings." Daisya said with a grin. "Don't tell me that surprises you."

"Ah… not really." Allen had to admit.

"Shut the fuck up!" Kanda hit the table. It was true, he didn't have any excuse why he wouldn't join today. And Tiedoll was sure to ruin the next few weeks with his endless whining if he didn't come along today. He would have indeed preferred to take care of a sick moyashi instead.

"Moyashi, hurry up. We're leaving."

"Where are you leaving to?" Marie asked while Daisya grinned evilly.

"Away from here."

Before Allen could get up however Tiedoll came into the kitchen and Kanda cursed whatever god he knew. Tiedoll gave him a disapproving look. "Stop using such language, Yuu."

Kanda ignored him. "Ready to leave, moyashi?"

"It's Allen, you thickheaded imbecile!"

"Where are you going?" Tiedoll asked.

"I'm taking moyashi home first and then I'll show him around the town. He hasn't seen much except from the Black Order. And even there he gets lost still." Kanda told him swiftly and ignored the coughing that suddenly came from the white haired kid. The old man most likely wouldn't interfere if he was spending time with another living being. And moyashi was the better choice when faced with a family meeting.

"But-"

"I don't know yet when I'll be back so don't wait up."

"At least let Allen eat something. Yuu didn't prepare you anything to eat yet, did he?" Tiedoll asked and turned to Allen.

"No. He _suddenly_ was in a hurry to leave." Allen replied with a pleasant smile on his lips.

Kanda glared at the kid. Trust the bottomless pit to agree to eat something.

Marie and Daisya smiled at each other and Marie helped Tiedoll with preparing their breakfast.

After they had eaten, again Kanda couldn't help but stare as the food vanished in the mouth of their guest, Kanda dragged Allen out.

"Yuu, when you return c-" Like before his beloved son didn't let him finish his sentence though.

"We'll be late."

"We?" Daisya asked with a grin.

"Yes. Moyashi will stay here tonight again. The fucking bed is still prepared too." He glared at Allen, a clear message that he would kill him if the boy would say anything. He'd NOT go to the damn family meeting in the afternoon or the evening.

Tiedoll contemplated this and nodded. "Well… I'll see you tomorrow then. Be careful and don't drive too fast." He hugged his son, who froze at the action, and began to cry. "It's so good that you have finally found a friend."

"Get off!" Kanda yelled at him while Daisya cursed himself for not having his mobile here to take a picture of the epic moment.

Marie pulled Tiedoll away from Kanda and wished them a nice day.

Kanda pushed the white haired boy towards his car and didn't even wait for him to be buckled up before speeding off.

"I didn't think Yuu would open up to someone else so fast." Tiedoll wiped his tears away.

"It's only thanks to the family meeting." Daisya informed him.

"He wants to take him along to it?" Tiedoll was truly surprised by this one, his youngest son never had taken anyone along somewhere ever before.

"No. He thinks the meeting is today." Daisya laughed and Marie smiled.

"We didn't want him to have an excuse then. I played along with Daisya. Besides, Allen is one who can put up with him."

"I'm sure he'll be angry when he finds out." Tiedoll said so he looked rather excited.

* * *

"Are you seriously going to stay the whole day?" Allen asked the madman he was currently sitting besides. Trust his luck to put him with the guy that had hated him ever since he had first met him.

"Shut up! Fucking family meetings!"

"So you just chose the lesser evil then? Nice to know there are things you hate more than me."

Kanda turned to glare at the annoying brat. "Would you f-"

"WHATCH THE STREET! Blimey! Do you want us to die?"

"THEN SHUT UP!"

Since Allen actually liked to live and wanted to become older and taller he did what he was told to do. They got to his place in complete silence and Allen opened the gate so Kanda could put the car inside, as he wasn't sure how long his _companion_ would want to stay.

His master still wasn't at home, not that he had really expected him to be. It was still pretty early and who knew if he hadn't decided to vanish again for a few days or even weeks. It wouldn't be the first time after all.

"Want something to drink?" He offered as Kanda sat down on a chair in the kitchen and looked around. If he didn't know better he would say the other was curious.

"Tea without sugar."

Allen prepared tea and a little snack for his golem. "Is your family that bad?"

Kanda sighed, he knew the kid wouldn't shut up about it until he answered. "The only thing they care about is Tiedoll's money."

That was a thing Allen understood well. Some of Cross' flirts had been the same. And yes, the man was loaded… At least until he had spent it all again and left him to deal with the debts. It was always the same. The man would earn a shitload of money and then spend it all in a week on expensive wines and women. Or he just kept it for a while (until he disappeared again) and made Allen pay for his expenses.

"So are you really going to spend the day with me?" Allen asked in disbelief. If it had been him, he might have used the same excuse and then gone to a park or some restaurant or do whatever, instead of spending the day with a person he didn't like.

"Obviously." It seemed the older boy didn't share his escape plans. "You are staying at my place again tonight after all."

"Jeez… you were serious about that?"

"Yes, I fucking was so get over it! It managed to shut the old man up!"

Before Allen could reply anything to that they heard the front door open. Allen shuddered and cursed his luck, his master had come back. Why couldn't he have stayed away longer?

"You know… staying at your place suddenly sounds a lot better." He said quietly enough so his master wouldn't hear. "Please drink your tea quickly." Before Kanda finished his tea however the door opened.

"Doesn't look like you have a hangover." Cross Marian said as he entered the kitchen.

"Of course not! I am not like you." Allen sniffed.

"Though you did get drunk." Kanda offered.

"Did he? Did he do something stupid like dancing on a table then?" Cross asked with sudden interest.

"No."

"Master!"

"So what did you do to get drunk, idiot apprentice?" The red haired man asked with a grin while he started to smoke a cigarette, ignoring Kanda who looked at him with disdain.

"I didn't do anything. My drinks were spiked."

"Figures. Your first time drunk and you didn't even get drunk voluntarily."

"I'm only fifteen! Why would I want to get drunk?" Allen huffed.

"What a bore. Those things are mostly interesting before you are legally allowed to do it." The man sneered at him.

"I don't see the fun in having a headache for the whole next day just to drink something. And I wasn't even really drunk."

"You were, just that you fell asleep right away." Kanda recounted ever so helpful.

"I should have known you would be that kind of drunk. So I guess the girl that spiked your drink didn't even get what she wanted."

"WHAT?"

Cross raised an eyebrow at his yelling apprentice. "God. How can you be so naïve? Why else would someone spike your drink if not to get you into her bed?"

"Ma- Master!" Allen blushed crimson at his stupid master's comment. "It wasn't a girl that spiked my drink!"

"So it was a guy." He laughed and looked at his angry and still blushing apprentice. "Oh well… with your girlish appearance it's actually not surprising."

"Master!"

Kanda coughed ever so slightly and Cross turned to him. "It wasn't you, was it?"

"THE FUCK?"

"WHA… WHA… MASTER! I was playing cards! Cards!"

Cross blew cigarette smoke at Allen and shrugged. "Get a life. Find a girlfriend or something, idiot apprentice."

"Unlike you I am only fifteen. I don't have to hurry with such things!"

He turned to Kanda to see if they could go upstairs. He seriously didn't want to spend any more time with his idiot guardian than necessary. "Are you finished with your tea, Kanda?"

To his relief Kanda got up and followed him wordlessly.

As they entered his room Kanda looked around with the slightest hint of interest. He had been here before but at that time it had been night and he only had dropped the teen into his bed and then left right away.

The room was bigger than he had assumed at first. He wasn't really surprised though, after all, the house was big too. Everything in the room was neatly ordered in its rightful place. He actually had expected more chaos, but he supposed it fit Allen to keep things in order, a trait they shared.

"I didn't know you had a piano in your room."

Allen remembered that Kanda had carried him here before. "Ah… Cross bought it some years ago. I moved it into my room when I decided to study music next year."

Kanda's head shot up and Allen froze. "What? Is something wrong?"

"I didn't expect you to go for music."

"I like it, and I'll only do it for a minor. There are so many things I would have wanted to do, it really was difficult to decide. I left Chemistry and Physics behind completely."

"Get over it, it's not as if you could work in all fields either."

"That's why I decided to leave those behind."

Allen packed some clothes to sleepover at his grumpy companion's place before he excused himself to go to the bathroom and change his clothes (of course Kanda insulted him for being girlish for that.)

When he came back he found Kanda sitting at his piano and pressing some keys. A smile tugged at his lips and he sat down beside him. "Can you play anything on it?"

"No. Marie can. He changed to organ two years ago however."

"I didn't know! I'll have to ask him about it." Allen was clearly excited. "I don't know many people who can play organ. How did he get the idea to change to it?"

"How the hell would I know?"

"You're a family, you know."

"No reason to ask about things I don't wanna know. Stop whining about it!"

Allen held up his hands to stop another argument from forming. "Move over a bit." He told the other instead, so that he could play his instrument. Allen focused on the melody he had tried to get down and started to play.

Kanda watched the kid somewhat fascinated. If he was someone else he might have actually smiled when Allen started to softly whistle along with the melody that he played out. Somehow the melody seemed familiar.

"That's the song I tried to play when you were… interrupting me last time."

"I think I know it."

"Could be possible. The single came out last week. It's faster normally. I don't think it would sound good if I tried playing it faster on the piano."

"Do you often try to play songs like that?"

"Only when I really like the song and don't have the score. It takes a while to get it right without one." Allen closed the lid of the piano. "What do you want to do? If you want I can play a bit longer, but I'd like to do something else later on."

"What do you normally do when you have free time?"

"It doesn't happen too often. I usually either played the piano or read some books. In winter I liked going to the gym, in summer to the beach, though preferably in areas where there are not many people. That or I went to some places that weren't as hot. Is there a place like this around here?"

"Moyashi… this area is pretty warm, so I am sure the only cool places you will find are rooms with air-co. There are more secluded places at the fucking beach, but we'd need to get up early to get a nice one. Don't dress as warm as you do and you'd have an easier time."

"It's not as if it makes that much of a difference really. It's too warm no matter what."

"I should invite you to Tokyo during summer once." Kanda smirked and Allen answered dryly "I'm sure I'd _love_ it. As always, your consideration of my well being is _amazing_."

"Let's go with the original plan moyashi. I'll show you a bit of our town, even though I know you won't remember the directions anyway."

Allen threw a dirty look at him but after a heated staring contest both of them wordlessly got up, Allen grabbed his packed bag and they went back downstairs.

Cross came out of his study just as Allen was about to call for him to say goodbye.

"Where are you going?"

"Kanda will show me some places around here. I haven't seen much of the town yet after all."

"Try not to get lost, idiot apprentice." Cross handed him an envelope. "Take care of that."

Allen took a look at it and opened it quickly "F… five hundred? How am I supposed to take care of it? I don't have any job at the moment!"

"Idiot! I told you I wouldn't pay the parts that you want for your computer!" Cross hit him with his hammer, though not hard enough to knock him unconscious.

Kanda couldn't stop himself from grinning when Allen started to curse under his breath, it was a rare sight after all.

"You want something special, you pay for it! I said I'd get you what you need, but I won't pay for extras."

"… Yes sir." Allen replied while still rubbing his forehead. "I'll sleep at Kanda's place."

"Make sure to go shopping if you don't want to starve when you get back." Cross turned around and went back into his study.

"Wait one more second." Allen told Kanda and rushed back to his room to get yesterday's jeans.

"What did you forget?" Kanda scowled at him as he came back.

"Well I do have to pay the bill. And I did win some money yesterday after all. It was more than I thought too." Allen smiled happily.

"How much did you win then?"

"Enough to cover the bill, get some decent food and buy a new pair of jeans."

"Che… you're really doing this as a job, aren't you?"

The smile vanished at once. "Not by choice. I only learned playing cards when Cross took me in. If I hadn't learned how to play I would never have been able to take care of all the expenses. But it seems like for the time being I won't have to do too much of it." That thought did cheer him up. Cross didn't try to give him a bad time at the moment… is what he would have liked to think. He never could be really sure with his guardian.

He would have liked to know the reason for it all. Four months ago his guardian had suddenly told him to not come with him to work again, even though he was one of the few who could connect to the computer they had built and use it to its full capability. Then a few weeks after that they had suddenly moved here and Cross gave him the assignment that led up to him being accepted into the Black Order. The only rule his master had given him was to get a degree and start walking the path that he wanted to walk. He didn't ask the man about it. Better not knowing, instead of having the treat taken away again.

The rest of the day went by rather fast in Kanda's opinion. First they went to the bank, so Allen could pay the bill, after that he took the other boy to some important office buildings, that he should know about. At midday they had lunch at one of his favorite restaurants (a Japanese one). In the afternoon they went to a shopping mall, where it was a lot cooler than outside. Allen bought two new books and a new CD there. Last but not least they went to a park he liked, where Allen bought an ice cream (that he ate more slowly than any other food as far as Kanda could tell).

The day could have been a lot more annoying if he was honest. The only thing, that really had pissed him off, happened in a second hand shop where Allen was about to buy a stupid mirror and the two had somehow come to argue about it. Unfortunately the mirror got in between their argument and it broke. Not only were they thrown out after that, but they also had to pay for the damn mirror.

They returned home after it was dark already. As expected no one was at home, most likely they were still at the damn meeting. Kanda put on the TV and sat down on the couch, and his guest plopped down beside him.

After arguing about what to watch (Kanda certainly would not watch 'The Hangover' while Allen refused to watch 'District 9') they ended up with some documentary movie that managed to make both of them sleepy.

In the end the white haired boy indeed did just that. Kanda considered letting him sleep on the couch but more likely than not Tiedoll would interrupt his sleep later on then. So he did what everyone would do in such a situation and (not without some feeling of pleasure) kicked the kid of the couch. Sure enough that method helped and after a short shouting contest, they went upstairs.

* * *

The next morning was less than pleasant for Kanda. First he still had a guest in his room (it didn't help that this time he had no one to blame for it), second said guest's golem had made a mess of his hair and seemed to sleep cozily in it, third the damn brat was awake so he couldn't follow his normal morning rhythm. And last but not least the stupid kid had nothing better to do than grin at him as he saw he was awake and realized that Timcanpy was sleeping on his hair.

Kanda glared at him and threw the damn thing into his face. "Ack… sorry Tim, Kanda is in his usual bad mood." The kid told the golem when it appeared to be angry.

"Did you set the fucking thing against me or something?" Kanda's glare deepened at the winged creature.

"Tim just seems to like your hair. That's all."

"Keep your fucking bird away from me and my hair!"

"Sure Kanda…" Allen's trademark smile adorned his face. Why couldn't he once kick puppies? Kanda silently wondered.

"Go take a shower moyashi!"

"It's Allen! Stupid jerk!" Still Allen got up and left the room. Kanda was just about to put the makeshift bed away when the white haired boy came back. "Uhm… where was the bathroom again?" Allen asked with a sheepish smile. "I kind of only found Marie's room and didn't want to wake anyone else up."

"Idiot." Kanda, though irritated, once again showed him the bathroom before finishing his previous task. Just as he was about to go downstairs he noticed the damn yellow golem in a corner of his room.

"Fuck it." He muttered and grabbed Timcanpy's tail. The damn kid couldn't even take care of his fucking bird. He barged back into the bathroom "FUCKING IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO…"

His eyes widened as he saw Allen naked in the middle of their bathroom, rubbing his dripping hair with a towel. Kanda would have cared less about the naked state of his body, but his eyes were transfixed onto the ugly, deformed red arm. It looked like raw flesh and veins could be clearly seen, especially where the raw flesh merged back into the kid's normal flesh.

For a moment everything was silent before Allen grabbed his clothes with shaky hands. He quickly dressed in silence, not bothering to finish drying himself. He hesitated as he passed Kanda, who still was staring at him, though his face looked more aloof again and took Timcanpy out of his hands. "Well… thanks for the nice day and… for letting me sleepover." He said with a forced cheerful voice before he ran down the stairs and out of the house, not bothering to turn around as Kanda yelled for him to wait.

Kanda regained his senses too late to stop Allen. Just as he made to follow Tiedoll as well as Marie came out of their rooms. "What's going on, Yuu? Why are you shouting?"

"Is Allen alright?"

Kanda glared angrily at the floor, his fists clenched and unclenched several times before he finally answered. "He just left." He ignored both of them and went back into his room and plopped down on his bed. His thoughts circling back around the moment when he had come into the bathroom. The shocked look on Allen's face as he had entered… that soon after turned into one of sadness and hurt.

The trembling of his hands as he took his clothes. And the most disturbing thing was the tears in his eyes that had threatened to flow over. _"My hand is ugly. I don't like showing it around."_ … So that was it, Kanda wondered. His hand indeed had been ugly. Still that didn't explain the kid's reaction. He didn't understand it, and he hated things he didn't understand.

With a sigh he took out his cell to call the moyashi, but to make things worse the kid had left his used clothes here. _"Well… thanks for the nice day and… for letting me sleepover."_ Kanda punched the wall. What the fuck was it with the damn kid?

* * *

Twenty minutes later Kanda was in his car driving for the fourth time back to the kid's place. He had wanted to just ignore it and let the brat pick up his clothes on his own again, but even his meditation was disturbed by the memory of Allen's face as he had passed him. "Damn him." Kanda really wanted to grab him and punch him for disturbing his routine so much.

He parked his car in front of the gate and rang. Since no one opened he repeated the process until after a few minutes finally the red haired guardian of the kid came out (not without a lot of insults, which Kanda kindly ignored at the moment).

"What the hell are you doing here already? And why isn't my idiot apprentice using his keys? Don't tell me he lost them." The man said as he finally saw who the person was, that had woken him up.

"Moyashi isn't with me. I was hoping he'd be back by now."

"Wasn't he supposed to be with you?"

"He left."

Cross glanced at the angry teenager in front of him and opened the door after some consideration. "Come in." He went ahead into the kitchen, started the coffee machine and motioned for Kanda to sit down.

"Want something to drink?" Without waiting for an answer he put down a teacup in front of Kanda. "Now tell what has happened. Allen's an idiot, but he's not an idiot that runs away normally."

And Kanda told him what had happened this morning. "So that's what happened, huh." He stubbed out his cigarette before turning to Kanda. "Well I suppose it won't hurt to tell you that the kid has some… issues he doesn't deal well with."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kanda glared, did the man think he was stupid or something?

"His left arm was the reason his parents left him behind when he was a small child… He had an arm that, while it didn't look as bad as it does now, didn't work. The arm couldn't be moved and he had red nails and all. I don't know more, just that his parents left him in a dirty alleyway as an infant." He took out a new cigarette. "He was more or less on his own, until his adoptive father, Mana, found him and took him in. Mana was a bit of an idiot, but he clearly loved Allen, and apparently was the first one who didn't mind his arm, or how it looked."

He paused for a bit and drank his coffee. "And then? You said it looked different?"

"Mana was a friend of mine, so he asked me to help him regain control of his arm, since an operation at that time would have meant that Allen would have lost his arm. We built a device that let him transfer his thoughts to objects and in the end his arm. It was however Allen that figured out how to make full use of the data we had gathered and in the end he was finally able to use his arm, though it started to look uglier."

"You had all that work just to help some brat from the streets?"

"Allen's uncle… Mana's brother paid for it."

"So they were rich?"

"Mana had enough… but he wasn't all that rich. His brother though was loaded. Anyway, a year after Allen regained his arm completely Mana died in an accident. I found him at the graveyard a month after and took him in. I don't know much about what happened before I came along, but I guess that because of the way his arm looked people didn't want to take him in. I took him to work with me and he helped out, though even there people always were reluctant to deal with him as soon as they saw his arm. It became the way it looks now at work."

"So…"

"So back to your problem, since obviously you haven't figured it out: as soon as people saw his arm he was spurned. The only one who was different was Mana and he's dead. Your reaction, when you saw the cursed thing, probably was reminding him of all the other times where his _friends_ pushed him away afterwards. It's not something he deals with easily." Cross lit up another cigarette and took a drag and studied the dark haired student in front of him.

"I'm sure my idiot apprentice will avoid you from here on, so you can go back to not being friends or whatever your relationship was like before." The other tensed up at that and Marian Cross smirked. "If that's not what you want try talking it out with the idiot."

"Now then, be a good little kid and either let yourself out or entertain yourself. Beautiful beings need some more sleep. Don't wake me up again." And Cross left the room ignoring the enraged teen that probably would have liked to hit his beautiful face.

* * *

It's probably useless to tell you guys now, but I LOVE CROSS (as if anyone could have overlooked that till now :p ) I probably also should hurry up with my other fics (and this one too) since I have a feeling that one of the next chapters might be a blow for my liking for DGM (kill that woman!!!! And finally leave my Allen and Kanda! I want them happy . AND GIVE CROSS BACK!!!)

I am just as upset by Fullmetal Alchemist (ok… upset is the understatement of the century. The only good scene was Winry … ok I won't spoil, but anyway… GET THEM OUT OF THERE O_O!!!!!!!!!! *dies* Give me Ed you sadist!!!!) *cries*

Last insane note: this chapter was written partially to the wonderful music of **Chemistry - Period** but even more so to the song **Continued Story – by Hiromu** (Code Geass R2). It's thanks to that song that I finally started to bother watching the series (to all who know just WHERE that song appears: yes – I am insane enough to sometimes watch series in a… random way)

**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	6. Friends

Hello everyone who reads my stories. I finally finished this chapter (and while I wanted it to be longer I figured I should update now instead of making you wait for longer.

**Thanks to all who reviewed! **Without that I probably wouldn't have finished this chapter anymore. So good news: since I wanted this chapter to be longer I already started with the next one! ^_~

Have fun reading!

* * *

It was midday when Allen finally stopped walking aimlessly through the town and sat down on a bench in a park. He had ran away from Kanda's house some hours ago, and had not cared about anything but getting away. He had been too deep in thought to realize where he was going, which led to the situation he was in now: he had not the slightest clue where he was. The whole area was completely new to him. What was worse, it was new to Timcanpy as well, so his beloved golem couldn't bring him back either.

If he only had let the small golem out of his hands after leaving Kanda's house! But he had held on to him until he realized he was lost. His plan to going back to Kanda's house and starting from there also wasn't working. He had tried for hours to find _some_ place or building that he knew, but didn't recognize anything. He was somewhere away from any main streets, in an area where many families lived, just that no one was outside - it was too hot for that.

Allen cursed himself at that. He had needed to get away from Kanda, from the way he had stared at his arm. Still that didn't mean he wanted to be lost in a big town, where he had no idea whatsoever as to where he was. To make things worse he had left his money and cell phone in Kanda's room, so he couldn't even call Cross and beg him to get him out of there. It would have been humiliating like hell, but at least he wouldn't have had to walk outside in this heat. He really missed the weather from Great Britain. Even during summer it often rained and almost never was this hot.

"I didn't even have breakfast yet." He mumbled as his stomach growled viciously, reminding him of its empty state.

Tim flew around his head and flapped it's wings before landing on his head. "You're hungry too, huh? Sorry Tim."

The golem started munching on his hair in reply. "And here I thought you only liked Kanda's now."

Kanda… it hurt thinking of the other boy. He had thought he hated him at first, with the way the other was an arse from the beginning. But he had been fine with that as it meant he didn't have to try and be nice either. It also was more easy to stay distant, like he did with everyone else he got to know, so that if Cross decided to move away again or if they saw his arm, he wouldn't be disappointed or hurt again. And yet somehow, without him realizing it, he had become intrigued by the black haired student.

He had wanted to spend more time with him and get to know him better. In some way it was also fun to annoy the other, even though Kanda always paid back in kind. He had let the other become part of his life and get close, without wanting to.

From all the people he got to know, Kanda was the only one he had actually believe would snort, if he ever saw his arm, and tell him to get over himself. That's why he hadn't been able to laugh and stay until he could say a polite goodbye to everyone else. That's why he had run, as the other had stared at his cursed arm. He didn't want to see the disgust in Kanda's eyes. Or the shudder that usually ran through people who had seen or - even worse - touched his arm.

He had hoped that Kanda's reaction would be different, but when he stopped yelling and only stared, all he could do was run before he once again saw the reaction all the others had shown him.

He drew his legs against his body and leaned his head against his knees. He had thought it wouldn't matter anymore, if people were to discover his arm again and normally it worked too. But this time it did matter. _Because it was Kanda._

"Tim… why is Kanda different?" His golem seemed to look at him in a way as if he thought the boy before him was the biggest idiot ever.

* * *

As midday arrived Kanda's patience had given way to full fledged anger. He had resolved to wait here for Allen, had read the newspaper because it really was the only thing he could do. But even after three hours of waiting the damn kid still hadn't shown up. His house was not that far away from Cross' place. Heck even a slug could make it in half an hour! He had been sure the brat would come here, his bottomless pit of a stomach sure would make him. But even though it was midday now, he still was nowhere in sight.

Just as he wondered if he should smash the cup against the wall to let out some frustration the door to the kitchen opened and Cross came back into the room, looking dumbfound to see him still here.

"What?" He growled. "You said I could make myself comfortable."

Cross blinked and started to laugh. "I didn't think you were the type to wait for so long."

Kanda twitched in reply. He wasn't! "So is it normal for that idiot to take so long?"

Cross arched his eyebrows. "Without food?"

"Well where is he then?" Why the fuck couldn't that cursed man just spit things out? He glared icily at him and Cross smirked.

"As I know him he's probably lost in the town somewhere. What's much more interesting is why he isn't using Timcanpy as a guide. He normally does when he is lost."

The cup in Kanda's hand suddenly broke under the pressure of Kanda's fingers. "What the fuck is wrong with this idiot? There are fucking signs everywhere on the streets! It shouldn't be possible to get lost like this in our town!"

The redhead laughed even more. "It is for him! I'm sure he wouldn't have found out of the Black Order if you guys didn't lead him."

That shut Kanda up. Allen indeed was this bad. No wonder he sucked in Geography.

"So if he isn't using Timcanpy then there is no way for him to get back within… the next week?"

Cross shrugged. "I never had to find it out. Tim remembers all the roads he sees once so he is a reliable guide."

"In that case he must have gotten separated from Tim."

The grin on the others face spread. The kid before him sure showed a lot of concern for a person who constantly insulted his apprentice. He really could do some good for his brat. "If he wasn't with you that's not likely. Tim doesn't like strangers and has some strange obsession with Allen. He always follows the idiot."

Again Kanda twitched. How could a golem have some obsession? Then again how was it possible for that… thing… to eat his soba… Kanda decided not to dwell on it too much .

"Well, try to find Tim and most likely you should find Allen. If not then my idiot apprentice will probably die from starvation."

"Fuck it! How could I find Tim if I have no idea where they went?"

Cross left the room without giving an answer and came back two minutes later with a black golem. He activated it and gave it to Kanda.

"Use this. It can find Tim."

Kanda let out a string of curses. That fucking guardian couldn't have given him this shit after he got here. He made to leave but was stopped once again.

"Second door to the left. You can find a broom there, use it to clean up the mess you made." He gestured to the pieces of the cup.

"…" He would kill the white haired boy when he saw him again.

* * *

Half an hour later he finally pulled into a parking lot near the park where Timcanpy was supposed to be. He got out of the car while the black golem hovered above him. This one seemed to be different from Timcanpy as it didn't touch him. Luckily. His patience was nonexistent and he couldn't afford to slice this one in half. He might never find the fucking moyashi then.

The golem led him through the small park, that was void of people at the moment. It was simply too hot to be outside Kanda decided. He would beat the moyashi for being stupid and then… well he would see that later.

Finally he saw the cause of his problem hunched on a bench under a tree with the cursed yellow ball on top of his head. He strode over quickly, grabbed the boys arm, pulled him up and roughly pushed him against the tree.

"WAAA-" Allen yelped.

"Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you?" He shouted. "Fuck you and your complexes!"

"K-Kanda?" Allen couldn't believe his eyes.

"Shut up!" Kanda took a deep breath before continuing. "You piss me off so much! How the fuck did you end up here? Why didn't you go to your place?"

His hold on Allen's wrist tightened. "I wasted all morning fucking waiting! And you have nothing better to do than sit here in a park? Fuck you!"

"Bloody hell!" Allen finally got over his initial shock of seeing the other teen here. "It wasn't my fault I got lost! And you were the one who was staring at… You were the one who wasn't comfortable anymore. So instead of having you kick me out I left. What's the problem now… why did you even look for me? I was finally out of your life, wasn't that what you wanted?"

Kanda pulled the sleeve of Allen's shirt up before the boy could pull away, ignoring the way the other almost started to panic.

"What are you doing? Let go!" Allen trashed against the iron grip and kicked at Kanda.

"Che… Your fucking arm is ugly. So what?" Kanda growled. "Should we cut it off so you can feel normal? Would that make you feel better? Your life doesn't revolve around that fucking arm! Who the hell would care about shit like that?"

The white haired boys movements suddenly froze and he stared at Kanda with wide eyes. "Who cares? I… you don't know anything!" He shoved the raven away and glared. "Don't make light of my problems!"

"I talked with your shitty excuse of a guardian. He explained a few things." Kanda informed him. "I don't see why you're making a fucking drama cause of an arm? Of course people will stare. People also stare when you eat like a pig, they stare when they see your hair or that scar. Get the hell over yourself! You should have been used to it ages ago!"

"I am used to people staring. What I am not used to is people being friendly to me for a while and then suddenly treat me like a monster after they see my arm. My own parents probably abandoned me because it never was as it should have been!"

"And now you're so scared because of that ugly arm that you don't even try to give others a chance anymore."

"As if you would, if you were disappointed time and time again!" Allen retorted.

"I don't give a fuck about others. In fact, I would be happy if they left me alone!" Kanda smirked.

"Then why are you here? I was leaving you alone. Did you come here to rub it into my face or what?" Allen stared at the other boy, truly questioning his motives. He hadn't thought that the Japanese teen would do something like this, but at the moment he truly wondered.

"Be glad I am here, damn moyashi. You'd probably starve to death if I hadn't been looking for you. And again, why the fuck would I care about some ugly arm?"

"…" Allen watched him wearily as he sat down on the bench.

"God damn… you are so fucking annoying. Stop drowning in self-pity already!"

"I am not drowning in self pity!" Allen huffed indignantly. "And anyway… why are you here? Why did you look for me?"

"I don't really know… Tiedoll would throw a fit if he read about the news of your death by starvation tomorrow in the newspaper." Kanda shrugged.

"Shouldn't you be happy about that then? You can't stand me. Mah… I would leave you Timcanpy."

"The fuck you would! Keep that cursed thing away! And while I would be happy I don't want Tiedoll in my ears for months!" The raven glared at the golem, just to make sure he stayed away from him.

"So since you still have it… why didn't you get Timcanpy to lead you back?" He questioned.

"Uhm… I held him… and he couldn't see for a while… by the time I realized we were already lost." Allen admitted and cursed his sense of direction once again.

"You are an even worse idiot than I thought!" Kanda stared at him. "Anyway… if you are done with the self-pitying let's go." He got up and turned to walk back to the car.

"I don't pity myself!" Allen cried again while he hurried to follow the raven haired man to his car.

"Will you take me home?" Allen asked as they reached the car.

"No."

"Why not? Where are we going then?" Kanda pushed him inside the car.

"Shut up! We're going to my place. I don't feel like seeing your damn _master _again! Fucking man made me waste an entire morning. At least now I know where you got that talent from." He clenched his fists at the memory of the smirk when Cross finally gave him the golem. He really should have killed him.

The boy besides him huffed. "Then how am I getting back to my place?"

Kanda shrugged. "Be glad that I take you to my place. If I didn't you would just end up with a heatstroke… actually that thought sounds more and more appealing. Maybe I should just ignore Tiedoll's whining."

He smirked at the angry look on the white haired boys face.

When they finally reached their destination Kanda at once left the heated car. He could have used airco, but he hated turning it on just for a few minutes. Despite the heat the white haired teen made no motion to follow however.

"Are you fucking asleep or what? Did the heat finally burn the last few brain cells you had?"

Allen glared tiredly at him before he broke eye contact. "Is it… really ok for me to come in? What do you get from it? Did your family bug you to come watch for me?"

"Moyashi…" Kanda growled. "Get. Over. It. I don't hate you because of your fucking arm, even if it is ugly as hell."

And finally Allen got up with a tiny smiled. "Thank you, Kanda."

"Che…" The older turned away to hide his surprise and a moment of awkward silence followed.

That however ended as soon as Kanda opened the door. At once Tiedoll came running, hugged him and started to cry. "Yuu! I'm so glad you're alright and Allen is back too!" Said boy at the moment had a hard time hiding his laughter at Kanda's murderous expression. A moment later he found himself hugged for dear life as well, while his shirt got soaked by tears. "Yuu left without a word… and you didn't even wait to say goodbye. I thought you two had a fight!"

"I'm glad your back again, Allen." Marie said as he and Daisya came out of the kitchen. "Th-Thank you." He said while trying to get out of Tiedoll's grasp.

"Was Kanda a jerk again? Did he hit you or something?" Daisya asked with a big grin on his face.

"N-"

"I did nothing. He freaked out when I came into the bathroom and saw-" Kanda tried to inform his family.

"HAHAHAHA, you sneaked into the bathroom to watch him naked? HAHAHA" Daisya doubled over from laughing. "Are you a pervert or a stalker?"

"THE FUCK?" Kanda grabbed his beloved katana. He so would kill him.

"Oh… that explains everything." Marie added.

"Is that true, Yuu? You finally found someone? But… sneaking into the bathroom-" Tiedoll began.

"FUCK YOU! I DID NOTHING!" Kanda shouted at them while Daisya escaped and bravely hid behind Allen.

"You guys got it all wrong. He just came into the bathroom and stared at my…" Allen trailed off, he didn't want to draw attention to his arm again.

"He stared at what?" Marie asked curiously.

Daisya once again collapsed in laughter. "Of course you would run, Moyashi-chan!"

"It's ALLEN!"

" I would too if some guy came into the bathroom when I shower and stared at my di-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kanda grabbed Allens wrist and pulled up his sleeve. "That freaking thing is what cause the whole mess!" He glared murderously at Daisya who stopped laughing once he caught sight of Allen's arm. "Look who's staring now." He added venomously, all the while ignoring the way Allen tensed up completely.

Tiedoll took a step towards the white haired teen and took his arm into his hand. "Oh… does it hurt?"

"Err…" Allen blinked confused. "… No."

Instead of awkward silence and avoidance Kanda's family only seemed genuinely intrigued. Especially Tiedoll. The man had stopped crying and was now watching his arm with serious fascination. He turned it and his eyes finally fell on the green cross on the middle of his left hand.

"Is that…" He touched the cross lightly and trailed it with his fingers. "Amazing…" He whispered as Allen pulled his hand away.

"So if Kanda didn't stare… at your private parts then why did you run?" Marie inquired.

"Huh? My arm doesn't disgust you?" Marie shrugged, Daisya just poked his head while Tiedoll didn't even seem to be listening. He was much too fascinated by the cross that Allen now was covering with his gloves again.

Kanda snorted. "Why the hell would it?"

Allen blinked a few times before he hid his eyes behind his bangs. Whenever someone had seen his arm, they would scream at him, turn away in disgust or look for an excuse to get away from him. No one, who had seen his arm, wanted to be touched by him again, especially not with his left hand. They all ignored him. Tiedoll however was fascinated, Marie and Daisya were curious and Kanda didn't give a damn at all, arm or no arm.

"Ah! You made him cry, Yuu! You're always so insensitive!" Daisya exclaimed.

"Shut up. Go annoy someone else!" Kanda snapped at him.

Marie smiled and pulled Allen into the kitchen. "Sit down. I'm sure you're hungry. Daisya, bring some after sun lotion. Allen has a sunburn!"

* * *

Sorry I didn't update in so long. I didn't feel like writing much and the fact that Fullmetal Alchemist ended was adding to that a lot (I still have a hard time to accept that it ended!).

The newest chapters of D. Gray-man were quite annoying as well in a way. Really makes me wanna leash out *sighs*.

Anyway… Holidays have started so I think I should write more again.

Please review!


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